


Royal Charm Academy

by EXOSANGEL



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Royalty, BaekChen are angles, Baekhyun is an eccentric puppy, Bottom Oh Sehun, Comedy, Fantasy, Fluff, Jongin is the cold Prince, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Top Kim Jongin | Kai, don't judge me for that, loosely based on Barbie Princess Charm School, royalmagicau, sehun is whipped for jongin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-12-27 01:28:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 44,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21110432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EXOSANGEL/pseuds/EXOSANGEL
Summary: The one where Sehun falls in love with Kai, the proclaimed ice-prince of the Royal Charm Academy.ORAs per the tradition of the magic folk, on the first snowfall of the year, a golden snowflake will fall. The one who catches it will be blessed with a happily ever after. However, the golden flake has been lost for decades. So it’s understandable that Sehun thinks he’s being pranked when a golden snowflake gently lands on his nose.





	Royal Charm Academy

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt Flake: 375  
Author's Note:  
So, a day before I went through Exo Seasonal's prompt archive I watched the Barbie Princess Charm School with my little cousin and then this prompt just caught my eye. It matched so well that after adding my own touch and spices to the whole thing I churned out this fic. Note that this is not completely based on the movie (actually it is completely different) but the universe is the same.  
Anyways, thanks a lot to the mods of the fest and of course, the prompter! I loved your idea. It was just what I was looking to write. I hope you enjoy it.

**Royal Charm Academy.**

  
It was _that_ time of the year. When the weather is dry and breeze comes in crispy folds. When the single puff of breath freezes in the air and looks as if it was smoke. When the blowing wind is harsh and biting, seeming almost raw. When the Sun barely peeks through the dark, grey clouds making everything look cold. It was winter and it was a matter of minutes, even seconds (seriously any moment now) when the first snow of the season will hit the floor.

It was a short period of about five months which will always remain intangible in nature.

Kids loved it because they got to play in a vast sea of white. Mothers hated it because their kids got sick. Café owners loved it because of the increase in the number of customers seeking warmth. People with cars found it inconvenient. Bakers loved how the indescribable smell of the snow went so well with the aroma of their baking goods. Some married couples with kids abhorred clearing the snow from their front doors. Naturists adored the pure, unstained beauty of nature. Those who loved the bright energy of the summer and had trouble keeping themselves warm whined their way through it while those who hated sweating thanked heavens.

Some found it dark and brooding, a symbol of loneliness and death (curse those writers for stereotyping), others considered it as a symbol of venturing out into a new world and bunkering into an old one. New lovers anticipated it, waiting to spend their very first-snow together, broken ones wished that they’d never have to hark back in the memory lane. The old ones reminisced their happy, romantic moments and promised each other a happily ever after, whereas, the ones who are a novice and ready to embark on a new soulful, passionate journey of falling in love wait for the first snow – precisely that one _golden flake_ which has now almost become a myth.

Everyone had their very own perception of the small, white-grey, twinkling flakes falling soundlessly to the ground; some melting away immediately, some staying hard and frozen, painting the green-brown landscapes, the sturdy colorful roofs and concrete-grey roads in a static blanket of white.

To Sehun, it was none of those. He wasn’t sick of winter and snow, but he wasn’t exactly fond of it either. The rundown apartment he lives in with his adoptive mother didn’t have any heating system; he was surprised that it was still holding up. His mother was already sick and the cold doesn’t do her health any favors. Moreover, the commute from his house to his high school (he was eighteen and had just gotten his final term exam results which meant that now he was out of the school and was preparing for the University entrance exams) and to the café he works in afterward turns into a nightmare when the pavements became slippery. Heating the water for a bath or even for drinking racked up gas and electricity bills which were already hard enough for him to maintain. Besides, to save themselves from freezing into a block of ice they needed to keep themselves warm – at least by bundling up in clothes which was another extra strain on their empty wallets. His mother was an editor at a publishing house and worked from home, but due to her health acting up she wasn’t able to be as efficient as she was before.

As much as it sounds like it, they weren’t living in abject poverty. His mother earned well. They ate well. Their neighborhood wasn’t the nicest, but it wasn’t the worst either. The apartment complex they lived in was moderately up to date. They at least had a roof over their heads which they can claim as their own. The apartment they lived in wouldn’t have been as bad if they had invested some money in it.

His adoptive father had bought it when he was six years old. By profession, he was a policeman and was a great person. Unfortunately, he had died during one of his missions when Sehun was only fourteen. Things got harder from there, but still his mother and he collectively earned enough. It was just that his University has always been an issue in their household and his mother wanted him to have a college degree no matter what. He was a diligent student and he knew he would earn himself a scholarship, but she still wanted to be on the safer side – the money they saved up would only be used once he has successfully scored a scholarship which he hoped would be soon.

He knew, his problems sounded really mundane, but when you have to deal with them in everyday life, they became tiring, though he still didn’t hate winter or snow specifically. Yeah, it lacked the lush fullness of summer, the vibrant bloom of the spring and the picturesque quality of the autumn, but it had its very own wonders. It was soothing and subtle. Something that he greatly loved. Another reason was the fact that his mother loved winter, especially when it is snowing because his parents found him while they were making their way back home on a stormy winter night.

  
“Are you leaving? Didn’t you have an off today?” Sehun whirled around in his place while shucking on his jacket and nodded his head when he saw his mother standing in the dimly lit hallway covered in a shawl. It was already dark outside (which wasn’t that surprising) and he could barely see anything beyond what the poor lightning was illuminating. 

“Yeah…Jisoo took my shift the other week when I took you to the doctor. She asked for me to cover hers in the school today since she’s busy with an assignment.”

“Ah- don’t push yourself too much, okay?”

“I won’t. You don’t have to worry, mom.” He replied with a small, but genuine smile and gave her a brief side hug.

“Call me if you need anything.” The bundled up male heard his mother laughing right before he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

.........

“Oh, Lord! It’s so cold.” Sehun whimpered under his breath as soon as he was out on the street and briskly made his way down it to reach the main road. The café was a one-kilometer walk from his house which wasn’t much, but on cold, winter night it felt like the biggest of the journeys in the world.

“I’m going to freeze and die.” He continued grumbling with a frown and rubbed his freezing hands together to generate some heat. When that didn’t work he cupped his hands over his mouth and blew hot air into it. Realizing that it was a hopeless case, he stuffed them back into the pockets of his jacket and continued walking. His hurried steps, however, came to a halt when his foot slipped. Letting out a loud yelp (into the otherwise serene environment) he balanced himself against the metal pole and winced when the cold material sent an unpleasant jolt down his spine. It was okay though, at least, he won’t show up at the work with a bleeding nose, unlike the last time.

Letting out a huff, Sehun gazed down to glare at the slippery ground (as if that would make any difference), but forgot about everything almost immediately when he saw the few small flakes of snow littering the pavement in front of him. He raised his head up in curiosity (the first snow was almost five to six days late this time around) and held his breath in amazement when his warm, brown irises took in the delightful sight of the snow slowly flying down from the sky, as if a majestic being was descending to the Earth from the heaven.

Everything seemed to have gotten slow. The silent wind, the cicadas of insects, the trembling leaves and branches, the moving clouds, almost like they all were in the awe of the beautiful scene of nature, and then all of a sudden, a bomb of nostalgia burst inside his mind – making snowman with his parents, his mother bundling him up in warm clothes before sending him out, drinking warm milk and eating freshly baked cookies, sitting by the fireplace in his mother’s lap while his father told him stories, playing in the snow with his friends, making snow angels, having a snow fight. It seemed like it happened ages ago, but yet the memory of those days were just as fresh as the present-day morning.

First snows were really important and celebrated in the Kingdom of Gardania (it was literally a one big, stunning garden filled with elusive magic, rare flowers, plains, forests and clear, sprinkling water streams that froze in winter – it was called the Bride of their Peninsula due to its ethereal exquisiteness), especially among the magic folk to whom Sehun belonged to as well.

It wasn’t the element of beauty or purity or any other thing that he has mentioned before that made the day so special. No, it was the ‘Golden Flake’ that everyone was dying to catch. It was the single gleaming spec of crystal among trillions of white-grey ones that promised a happily ever after (just like in a fairytale) to the person who managed to catch it, but sadly no one has seen it for about almost two decades now. It has presently started to become a myth, but people of Gardania as a tradition formed a habit of going on blind dates on the day of the first snow, claiming that even though the flake was absent, its charm was still alive. Sehun never indulged in the tradition, but he has seen his friends fussing over the day like they do on Valentines.

It wasn’t only the magic folk though. The blessings of the golden flake didn’t elude the common mass, the humans, who didn’t have any powers. His adoptive parents didn’t possess any, but he did. He had the magic of wind which meant that his real parents had magic as well and at least one of them had the same magic as him. It was how it worked. Sehun knew that living with the ‘normal’ parents, he would never be able to reach his full potential. He didn’t know anything about his kind, _they_ didn’t know anything about it and internet wasn’t really as helpful as he had hoped for it to be. He wasn’t trained properly and he knew it.

His power (as he likes to call it – makes it seem cooler) was convenient and helped him most of the times. Being a waiter, he was sure that carrying two full trays in both his hands would have been impossible if his control over the wind hadn’t assisted him. In summer, it was pretty useful as well and the fact that he barely ever sweat (from what he observed, it was a horrible sticky feeling) made him love it all that much, but sadly that was the only knowledge and use of his power that he knew of – or that he had. There was an inkling feeling inside him that there was more to it, but Sehun can never be sure of it.

The people of magic were very private. All the information that he had found on the web was given by the commoners who have happened to be around them. He hadn’t found one single account from an actual person who possessed a power and wanted to share his way of progress or life with others. So basically, despite having powers, he had spent a life of a commoner and didn’t know anything about the history of his own kind other than the occasional rumors.

He also happened to have two marks on his neck, the meaning of which he discovered very recently and let’s just say he wasn’t that thrilled about one of them. One represented his power which Sehun kind of had a suspicion about and the other one represented that he was a freaking carrier! The latter of two had shocked him to the bones. The first time he had found about it, he had cried in his mother’s lap for three hours straight because he considered himself to be a boy, he had never had any symptoms then how come he was able of conceiving life. Thankfully, his mother has talked him into accepting who he actually was and it was a small relief that he can only ever carry a baby from a person of his own kind. It lifted his spirits up because he didn’t even know anyone of his kind so there were no chances of him becoming pregnant. You don’t know how weird that sounds to him, even now.

However, he wasn’t exactly happy when he came to know that the people of his own kind can detect what his _‘gender’_ (seriously, it was ridiculous because he was a fucking male – what bullshit did they mean by gender? Why do they have to distinguish their genders between carrier and non-carrier, the latter of two being the sperm donor which automatically meant that the carrier’s sperm was infertile though that particularly didn’t concern him since he was very much gay; magic folk or not) was and apparently he was supposed to do the same, but as fate has fucked with him big time, he was not trained enough to do that.

Another thing about having magic was the fact that the people belonging to the royal circle of the Gardania were mostly the only ones who were blessed by the nature, _but_ there had also been records of children from the common household possessing an ability over an element as well which meant that he was never able to confirm whether he was from a royal lineage or not. It was a funny thought; one that he unconsciously entertained a lot in his free time. He knew it was silly, but everyone can fantasize and he liked to do it quite a lot.

Coming back to the Golden flake, Sehun didn’t get why people associated their happily ever after with a romantic partner. Does it really have to be a lover? _His_ happily after was with his mother; preferably having her healthy and kicking again. He wanted to give her the comforts that she was lacking in her life currently and didn’t really fancy a partner in a romantic sense at all. He didn’t need the golden-

His stream of thought was broken abruptly as something cold and light fell on his nose. Blinking his eyes rapidly, Sehun shuck off the snow stuck in his lashes and narrowed his gaze when a golden twinkle caught his attention. Frowning to himself, he reached up to touch whatever has fallen on his nose and picked it up.

_What the fuck?_

It was the first thought that crossed his mind as soon as his brain registered just what he was holding. It was the _Golden Flake_. At least, it was a snowflake that was colored golden. There was no way in the hell he was going to believe that it was the mythical flake that gave everyone a fairytale ending. It was too good to be true. He has never been this lucky and he just wasn’t about to assume that he suddenly did. The renowned blessing of nature that everyone wanted, that no one has gotten for the past seventeen something years, can’t be his’ all of a sudden. It made no sense. Someone was clearly pranking him. Maybe it was an ice bender who was messing with him. People in his neighborhood were especially stingy.

_But can they make it golden?_

_There isn’t even anyone with powers here…_

“This isn’t funny!” Sehun called out to absolutely no one (his heartbeat spiking up a little), as the flake in his hand slowly started to melt, and looked around the place to see whether there were any hidden cameras or not. Scowling he turned back towards the flake, thinking of what to do with it, but before he could do anything the phone in his pocket started ringing. Forgetting all about being messed up with, he reached out with his other hand to pull out his phone and quickly answered it.

“I’m here. I’m here. Just give me a minute.” He consoled the person on the other line who immediately let out a groan.

“I have this last project due, Sehun!” Jisoo, who was a year younger than him, complained before sighing.

“What’s taking you so long?”

“The Golden flake-” He started and shifted his gaze back to the flake, but it was already gone, leaving no traces of its existence behind.

_Did I even see it?_

_Was that my imagination?_

He had clearly seen it melting, but there should be at least the water (golden water?) making his glove wet. Moreover, it was melting so slowly at first. How did it even melt that fast while he was not looking at it? It was insane. _He_ was going insane.

“What flake?” His friend sounded confused.

“Nothing. I’ll be there. Just a minute more, okay?”

…………

  
Jisoo was gone by the time Sehun reached the café which he was sure his boss would have thrown a fit over if he was there. Thankfully, to his (and Jisoo’s luck) the grumpy old man had already left for his home. If he would have been any braver he would have called out his boss on his tardiness (it was just nine and he had already left), but he wasn’t so he just rolled his eyes and sucked it up. At least the job paid nicely.

The absence of his boss also meant that he was the only one looking over the café (not including Johnny manning the counter and Hansol in the kitchen) and he knew damn well that it was going to be a very tiring job; especially since their café was a 24 hour one and his co-worker didn’t start his shift till 2 in the morning.

_That stupid man didn’t even bother to ask or inform me!_

The café wasn’t very big in size, but was a fairly popular spot in the region. People from the close-by neighborhood often came here to get their fix of coffee or to satiate their sweet tooth. His high school students often visited the place as well because if Sehun was to say for himself, their cafe had a devilishly delicious coffee, which had people coming back for more again and again. However, night shifts barely ever have to go through rush hours so perhaps he won’t be as exhausted by the end of the day.

Oh- how _wrong_ he was.

The rush hour was probably the worst one that he has ever experienced (Jisoo was the one who took this shift, he mostly took the hours from 2 to 8 in the afternoon) and the fact that he was alone, tending to all those people by himself tired him to the bones. Johnny had taken mercy on him and had decided to help him in delivering the orders to the tables along with handling the cash register, but it was extremely difficult for him so most of the times he wasn’t available. Sehun was still thankful for his effort.

Both of them have taken turns washing the dishes to help Hansol too though thankfully there weren’t a lot because most of the people only came in to have coffee or other hot beverages. The café badly needed at least two new workers. Why the hell was his boss such a miser? He earned well from his business. The tired male was sure that the old man at least afforded another waiter.

By the time he was free, Sehun had forgotten all about the existence of the mythical golden flake.

“The rush hour at this time isn’t usually bad, especially in summer. Winter is a whole other story.” Johnny commented as soon as he came back from delivering the last order of the night, hopefully. It was already about one in the morning. Who the hell would come to the café at this time to have some stupid cup of coffee even if the drinks they made were heavenly.

“Universe hates me.” He mourned while splaying his body across the counter.

“When is Sooyoung’s shift staring, again?”

“That’s the tenth time you have asked me that.” Johnny snorted which caused him to roll his eyes.

“That’s why I tacked in an ‘again’ you moron.” It was his friend’s turn to roll his eyes.

“In about an hour. Hold it in. You can do this drama queen.” Sehun genuinely felt offended at the label given to him.

“It’s easier for you to say because you’re leaving already!”

“Yeah, well, it sucks to be you,” Johnny responded with a shrug of his shoulders before throwing him a sleazy grin and walking out the front.

_Fucker._

Sehun may or may not have said that out loud though he didn’t care about it all that much. It’s not like his friend felt insulted or his boss was there, but the only customer present inside the café (an old lady – the hell was an old lady doing here at one in the morning anyway) did look at him in a funny way before putting down her mug and booking it out of the warm café.

_Sucks to be her._

He mocked the customer in his head (his boss would have murdered him if he had out-rightly offended his precious money givers, especially the constant ones) conveniently using his friend’s words before tiredly making his way towards the table to clean it. He placed the empty plate that they have used to serve the chocolate cake – that lady really needed to keep a check on her sugar intake – in the plate before doing the same with the mug. Swiping the table surface clean thoroughly with a rag, he straightened up and turned around in his place to leave. However, before he can even properly face the other side something came barreling into his body.

Sehun heard a small yelp of surprise from the newcomers (?) before he instinctively reached for his powers and manipulated the air so that it was slowing down the fall of the tray that he has regretfully lost hold of. He let out a small curse under his breath when he felt something wet against his chest and tipped his head down to glare at the stained, white shirt. Apparently, stopping the cutlery from breaking was possible, but saving his shirt was not.

_Fan-fucking-tastic!_

He was now even more certain that the golden flake was just a stupid scam.

“Oh- fuck! I’m so sorry!” The waiter raised his head up to finally have a good look of the person (make it _persons_ since there were two of them, wrapped around each other like snakes – _was_ that even possible) who bumped into him so rashly. They were wearing uniforms. A black blazer with a crisp white undershirt and an equally black slacks finished off with expensive-looking leather boots. There was also a golden emblem of some sort attached to the crest of their blazers which he didn’t really recognize, but from the looks of it seemed like they belonged to an elite school.

_Great_

_Just the thing I needed…_

_I’m not really in the mood of dealing with snobby, rich people._

_Why the hell are they wearing uniforms?_

_It’s one in the morning, for crying out loud!_

_Why are they here?_

_That flake is cursed._

The waiter ranted mentally while trying to keep his lips from twitching.

_Always be polite to the customer, Sehun._

_Always! Or else that moron of your boss is going to skin you alive in the walls of this very café._

That wasn’t a very pleasant thought if you ask him.

“Language, Baekhyun!” A voice scolded from behind. Sehun wanted to throw whoever that was out of the café because his freaking shirt was ruined (getting that stain out was going to be a bitch) and all that person cared about was the language that his friend (?), brother (?), lover (?) – he didn’t really care enough – used.

“Can you guys for once act like human beings?” The same guy with feline eyes continued as if he wasn’t aware of Sehun’s thoughts. Sadly, he really wasn’t; especially since the waiter had already morphed his face into that fake, amiable smile that the customers absolutely adored and he himself cringed at every night.

“Come on, Minseok. We all know you’re just bitter because you’re single and we are not.” One of the guys who have bumped into him (the one with the impressive cheekbones) teased with a sly smile.

“Shut up, Jongdae. I do not wish to have Baekhyun out of all people as my boyfriend. I value my sanity.” Minseok deadpanned with a grimace.

“Hey!” Baekhyun, the other guy who bumped into him, protested immediately, looking quite affronted.

“How can you-”

“Can we do what we came here for already?” A new voice demanded blankly which honestly startled him a little. The fourth guy has been so quiet and motionless, compared to his friends all this time that he has totally gone unnoticed until he decided to make his presence known and _damn…_was his presence so strong! Sehun didn’t know what it was, maybe it was the uniform or maybe it was that broody expression on his face, but he had an air about himself that screamed _important_. Before that very moment he didn’t even know that the air could scream – more than fifteen years of education gone into waste – and he could actually understand it. 

“Always the killjoy, Jongin.” The waiter didn’t get enough time to take in the mentioned male’s appearance properly as Minseok broke him out of his trance with a snort and walked past his figure to settle down on one of the tables near the windows. Jongin just rolled his eyes at the remark, the loose fringe of his raven locks mischievously teasing the brown orbs, before following his friend’s suite and settling down. Baekhyun and Jongdae finally detached themselves from one another too and traced their way to the table as well.

Sehun stood there in his place, a little dumbfounded, before he finally remembered where he was and what his job was. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he grimaced down at the dirty shirt sticking to his torso in a very sickening manner, but nonetheless, pulled out his pen and notepad to take their orders. He can get this over with and change later. Hopefully, they are here only to get something warm to drink and would be on their way soon.

No, really, he would throw them out himself (can’t he just sleepover one of the tables?) if he had to resort to that – his boss be damned.

“Can I take your order, Sir?” The affable companions on the table seemed to have totally forgotten about his existence (which he was a bit offended over, like how do you forget about a whole 6ft tall person who was still making an effort to smile at you – even though Sehun would admit that his smile was upside down, _but_ it’s the heart that counts anyway) so he decided to remind them of his extremely welcome existence; not really.

“Ah- yes!” Baekhyun proclaimed positively before beaming up at him radiantly, as if he wasn’t one of the sources of his discomfort at the present moment. Sehun was sure he would have socked the guy in the face if he didn’t have a soft spot for cute things or in this case, well, cute humans.

_I’m too sleep-deprived to deal with someone with this level of energy._

“We’ll get four medium sized cups of hot chocolate with extra cream in two.” At least, they will leave him alone soon.

“Please add two pieces of that strawberry shortcake as well, please.” Jongdae, if he was not remembering the name wrong, added before giving him a slightly apologetic smile.

_Great…_

_That makes it two plates and maybe four spoons to be washed._

_Life is so unfair!_

“We are also sorry about that.” He continued while pointing towards his stained shirt which honestly surprised him.

_Wait- what?_

“I would admit that we didn’t really see where we were going.”

_Well, newsflash, at least they are not imbeciles._

“Sweetheart, we never see where we are going.” Baekhyun reminded his boyfriend with a cheeky grin, which earned him a glare from the said sweetheart before he turned to face Sehun; his expression turning into something soberer.

“But my boyfriend’s right. I’m sorry that I basically caused us to barrel into you.” Since they looked genuinely apologetic and he was kind of impressed by their modest attitude, the waiter just shook his head at them with a smile – this time the real one.

“It is okay. No one is…hurt.” He pacified in a gawky manner (sometimes he hated himself for being so freaking nervous in social interactions with strangers – especially the nice ones. Perhaps, handsome ones as well, but you didn’t hear that from him) before clearing his throat again and shooting a glance over his shoulder.

“I’ll get going now. Your order will be here shortly. Thank you for visiting Coffico.” He added belatedly after a small moment of silence from both sides (internally cringing at the way he was currently making a fool out of himself) and gave them a stiff bow before hastily making his way towards the counter trying to collect the remaining shreds of his dignity – or maybe Johnny was right about him being a major drama queen, after all. Not that he was going to admit to that out loud.

…………

  
When Sehun came out from the back (thankfully dressed in a neat shirt) with the orders he caught sight of Jongdae and Baekhyun kissing – making out would be a better term – shamelessly without any care in the world. He could make out the vague expression of disgust on Minseok’s face from where he was standing; which to be very honest, he would like to mirror. Jongin on the other hand seemed relatively irresponsive, but the way he had his plump, pink lips (no he didn’t just stared at the handsome male’s lips for a second too long) pressed in a thin line and his faintly narrowed brown eyes, infringed with long lashes, were the clear indicator that he was unamused by his friend’s antics. No surprise in that.

“Your order is here.” He announced loudly to warn them of his presence (basically, so that they would stop tainting his eyes) and professionally walked up to them to place their orders on the table. A small chorus of thanks reached his ears, which he courteously acknowledged, before he straightened his posture and accidentally (not so much, especially when he _intended_ to get a closer look at the handsome stranger – no need to be judgmental since it was what he considered as his innate reaction towards attractive guys; no shame in that) found himself making a brief eye contact with Jongin.

Having a closer view, he was sure that there was no way one alive person would ever miss how impressive the other male’s jaw was. It was sharp and slanted which added to his overall handsome facial features. He was tall and lean from what Sehun has seen (and what he _could_ see considering the uniform slacks and the blazer Jongin was wearing) and has a tanned skin which sort of made him glow and stand out among the others. A bright shining star among the many dull ones; not that his friends were any less attractive.

Putting his own thirsting over the hot stranger aside, he would like to point out that he had never been as embarrassed as he was at that moment when he saw the corner of Jongin’s mouth going up – in a bit of a cocky manner if he was obliged to observe – and immediately averted his gaze away with somewhat burning face (he was caught _staring_) which the waiter hoped he could tack off as the result of too harsh a cold. Next, his gaze landed on Baekhyun who was looking at him with a mischievous grin which was somehow more terrifying than Jongin’s subtle smug smirk.

_What is it with these people!_

He whined mentally before once again giving them a stiff bow and practically ran to his safe sanctuary that happened to be the back of the counter where only employees were allowed. If he heard a low whistle coming from the table just as he left (followed by a muffled conversation that his rapidly beating heart didn’t allow him to understand), let’s just say Sehun ignored it the best he could without sparing them another extra glance.

* * *

“I’m home!” Sehun announced as soon as he locked the door of his house and made quick work of taking his jacket off. Next, he unwound the scarf wrapped around his neck and hung both the things on the stand placed close to the entrance.

“I’m in the launch.” Came the reply from his mother which caused him to shake his head fondly. Rubbing his hands together (they felt raw and frozen from the cold outside), he took off his shoes, placed them in the shoe rack before making his way inside. Like his mother had said, he found her sitting on the couch watching their old TV. Walking forward, he gave her a small hug (to which his mother protested since he just came from outside and was apparently stealing away all her warmth) and settled down beside her in a tired heap.

“What are you watching?” He inquired just for the sake of the conversation and fixed his blank gaze on the TV though his eyes were unseeing.

“Royal Charm Academy’s Coronation!” His mother replied excitedly before holding onto his cold arm; forgetting all about the heat he was stealing from her now.

Royal Charm Academy was an extremely prestigious institute built on an isolated island in the south of Gardania. It was the most important part of their Kingdom (it was only a five minutes ride from the castle and was under the care of the royalties of Gardania. One could say that it was a very distant part of the royal palace since it was guarded by the royal knights as well) because it was famous all around the world, especially among the nobles and aristocrats.

The Academy worked and operated like any other ordinary University (you can take up medicine, finance, business, IT or seriously any other major you are interested in), but it also specialized in the grooming and training of the future royal leaders (the crown princes and princesses), the Dukes and Duchesses, the courtiers, advisors, and treasurers, etc. It basically educated and prepared the whole ruling body of a Kingdom in a very effective manner so they didn’t have an entry test and one was only allowed in there if they’re of a higher status. In other words, a common man can only dream about attending it.

Royal Charm Academy has a history of about six decades and was initiated by the Queen of Gardania at that time. Seeing how effective it has been and how it has helped in making the structure of the Kingdom better, its popularity grew in the peninsula and eventually all over the globe. The aristocrats and noble class sent their kids to the Academy for the training of their future roles at the age of eighteen so that they can get their professional degrees from the prestigious institute and learn about their duties as well. The administration of the Academy was proud to announce that they were never once disappointed. So basically, Royal Charm Academy was the home to magic folk and the royalties all over the world.

The island it is built on is special in itself. It is home to one of the most delicate, rare and beautiful magical plants, animals and species around the world. Some say, it is the center of magic; the place where the magic folk originated from and apparently only belonged to the magic folk because a common man can’t even think of stepping a foot inside it. The island is like a sacred temple and the only way to reach it was to trespass the estate of royal palace which was a heinous crime and meant that it was most probably not possible to breach it unless you’re taken there officially – like as a student of Royal Charm Academy.

The lush green island filled with life and magic was surrounded by luminous aquamarine waters with a crystal clear lap upon its dazzling white shores, which barely peek above the sea that stretched miles and miles painting the whole canvass a light shade of blue. Beneath the mesmerizing waters, coral reefs flourish which is another sight to behold.

  
“I can’t wait for it to start.” His mother continued breaking his train of thought.

“Why are _you_ so excited about that?” The tired male inquired with a ticked brow before actually paying some attention to the TV. He had never been interested in these ceremonies, neither was his mother so something must be special about this year if she was acting like that.

The first thing he noticed upon closer inspection was the extravagant decorations that were done for the ceremony which wasn’t exactly a shock because rich people liked to show off their wealth. Besides that, this was a worldwide transmission that people actually watched so a low-budget decoration wouldn’t really have added to the esteem of their Kingdom.

The second thing he noticed was the presence of the most important officials of their Kingdom seated at one particular corner allotted to them. He wasn’t proud of himself when he failed to come up with their names – not even one of them. Thank God, he wasn’t planning on taking political studies ahead. There was also the common folk of the Kingdom gathered behind them but were separated by the mesh wall of the castle.

The third thing that came under his conscious observation were the students of the Academy sitting almost opposite to the officials. From what he could estimate, Sehun was sure that there were around 400 to 500 of them which, to be honest was a very small number as compared to the size of the institute, but that might be attributed to their ‘elites only’ policy.

Another thing that caught his attention was the uniform those kids were wearing. He was sure that he had seen it somewhere, but couldn’t really recall it. The golden emblems on the crest of their blazers were glaring in his eyes, but he still couldn’t remember where he had the opportunity of acquainting himself with them.

“Why am I excited?” His mother repeated his word in a tone which implied that he was extremely ignorant for asking that question.

“Are _you_ not excited about it?”

“Mom, why would I care about this ceremony?” Sehun questioned before turning to face her with a frown.

“Because today is the start of the brand new semester! The first-year students are going to arrive.” She answered right away which only confused him more.

“And…?”

“Oh- Boy!” His mother lamented with the roll of her eyes.

“It is Gardania’s turn for a scholarship this year! One of the eighteen years old in our Kingdom, common human or otherwise, would be given a chance to attend the academy and hold the position of a royal advisor for the future King! You’re eighteen. Do the calculations. Why do you think I’m excited?”

“Because…I’m eighteen?” He still wasn’t sure how any of this was related to them.

“Exactly! You’re eligible for the scholarship. Imagine, if you get it. My son would be one of the elites.” Sehun snorted as soon as he heard that.

“Mom, are you serious? There are probably thousands of names to be chosen from. What makes you think it would be mine?”

“My heart tells me, it will be you.” His mother argued stubbornly before turning to face the TV again just in time they showed the main podium where the headmaster of the Royal Charm Academy, Wu Yifan who was also the brother of the late Queen, was standing along with the royal advisor, Byun Yohan, of their previous Queen, Wu Qing Shan; who sadly died in a tragic accident with her husband. People do say they had a baby Prince, Wu Shixun, who might be alive somewhere today or died along with his parents though his body was not found so nothing was confirmed.

“Oh, God! That’s Kim Kai! The crown Prince of Kingdom Caslera.” Now, Sehun knows where he has seen those uniforms. How could he ever have forgotten? The group of friends that he had served almost a week ago at the café were wearing those same uniforms. That emblem that was pinned to the crest of the black blazer that the guy on the TV was wearing was frighteningly the same.

It was Jongin. The hot stranger who had unfortunately caught him staring that night.

_God bless me!_

He mourned internally before slumping further down in his seat. That flake was seriously cursed or it was a fake one – most probably the latter one. Whoever said that it was blessed should be cursed. If he remembers it correctly, the last person who was rumored to have caught it was the Queen of Gardania, Wu Qing Shan, who died a tragic death with her husband, Yeon-seok, after one year of giving birth to her son. He was pretty sure that it did not account for a happily ever after.

_Maybe the golden flake has always been a myth and nothing else…_

Sehun concluded just in time, the screen shifted away from Jongin towards headmaster Yifan who stepped up to the dice to most probably, address the audience through the mike.

“Good morning, people of Gardania and the other worthy Kingdoms who have honored us by joining this happy occasion. Today, the prestigious institute of Royal Charm Academy completed its 61st-year mark. Please give us and yourself a loud round of applause.” He broke off to let the audience do just that before continuing.

“Today also marks the start of our new semester which means that many young royals and nobles will join us to train for their future roles. Let us all pray for their success and give them small applause as an encouragement as well.” Another break, another round of clapping from the audience.

“As you all shall know, this year is very important for our Kingdom Gardania because it is after the circle of seven years and seven Kingdoms in the Peninsula that it is finally Gardania’s turn again to obtain the scholarship to the Royal Charm Academy.” This time the applause broke out from the audience of the common folk without the prompting of the headmaster.

“All the eighteen years old in our Kingdom are eligible for it whether you belong to the magic folk or not. So without any further delay, I would like to call upon the stage Kim Kai, the renowned Crown Prince of Caslera, who had agreed to do the owner of picking out the winner from the lucky draw for us and will be starting his fourth year with our Academy.” The applause this time around was the loudest, coming from both the common and the rich folk. It seemed like Prince Kai was really well-liked by the people which honestly, wasn’t something unexpected. The Kingdom of Caslera and Gardania have been on the best of the terms for decades. The friendship between the two royal families and the people of both Kingdoms was extra-ordinary and had run in history for almost about a century.

Moreover, after the death of the last King and Queen of Gardania, the Kingdom had started to rapidly move towards its downfall, but it was fortunately prevented by the help and aid that came from the generous royals of the Caslera who had been at that time mourning the death of the Queen Qing Shan and King Yeon-seok. It was recorded that the friendship between Kai’s parents and their former rulers of Gardania was the strongest one amongst the many, many generations and has set an example, especially when the Kingdom of Caslera has been working all these years in the absence of the true heir to the throne of Gardania to maintain the grandeur of the Royal Charm Academy.

Jongin confidently climbed up the stairs with an air of dignity that he has not seen in many people. His raven locks were gelled back this time though it didn’t make him look any less attractive. Contrary to that, he looked more suave and charismatic. More put together. More commanding and intimidating even though he was just wearing a plain uniform (Sehun had to admit that the blazer insinuated his broad shoulders beautifully) among many suited people.

“Prince Kai, everyone.” Headmaster Yifan repeated the introduction with a welcoming smile, as the Prince walked towards the huge, cylindrical lucky draw box. He threw a charming smile to the camera, which was kind of cold, and thrust his arms inside the box to pull out the name of the lucky person.

“Please, let it be my son! Please, let it be my son!” His mother chanted from her place which caused him to roll his eyes. He can’t believe that she was serious about this all.

“Come on, Mom. Stop it.” He scolded her and got up from his place to fetch himself a glass of water.

“Oh Sehun.” He stopped dead in the middle of his track when he heard the name of the person that Jongin announced. This wasn’t possible, was it? It was some other Oh Sehun. Yes, there ought to be many in their Kingdom.

“The heir of Oh Minji and Oh Junhoe.” 

_Fuck._

Sehun was sure that his mother has never screamed so loud in her life. Heck! He has never heard her screaming and she shouldn’t be, considering her vulnerable health, but he couldn’t really fault her for it. She has been wishing all this time that it was him and somehow her wish has been granted. He was the new scholarship student of the Royal Charm Academy; the very institute he has never even dreamed about attending. He can’t believe this.

“Sehun! Congratulations.” He sadly, can’t share his mother’s happiness.

“Mom…I can’t go.” The bright smile on her face wilted away almost immediately.

“Why not? This is a golden opportunity child! How can you waste it? Thousands of people want to be in your place right now.” _Golden._ Was this the blessing of the golden flake? He wasn’t so sure anymore.

“I can’t mom! I have responsibilities. You’re sick. I can’t leave you alone.”

“Nonsense!” His mother refuted right away with a scowl.

“You’re out almost the whole day anyway. I can take care of myself. You know that and you don’t need to worry about the expenses or anything else. We have a lot saved up for your University. Now, that you’re going to Royal Charm Academy, I can always use the savings. Study hard, like you always do and one day we won’t have to care about money anymore.” That had him thinking. When the flake has fallen on him, the very thought crossing through his mind was the wish that he wanted to give his mother a better life. It was his happily ever after and maybe that flake was giving it to him. He was being given a golden chance of making his wishes come true. Once, he graduates from the University, he would be able to give his mother all the comforts and expensive health treatments that she needed to be better again.

A loud knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. Sehun watched blankly, as his mother moved past him to most probably open the door for whoever was waiting out there.

“We are here for Oh Sehun.” It was decided. He was going.

* * *

The Royal Charm Academy was, in lack of better words, a palace. A lot smaller and modern than the main castle of Gardania, but impressive nonetheless. Four massive, round towers (he wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to count nine floors or ten) erected proudly from the otherwise four-storied, unified building which was connected by enormous, vast walls that stretched for miles. Tall, wide windows with white frames were scattered thinly across the walls in a symmetrical pattern and made the place look extremely ethereal, especially when the sun rays bounced off the glass panes.

The whole building gave off a shade of reddish-brown since it was made out of fine red bricks entirely. It was also covered with many wild vines (he had a suspicion that they were maintained, but were thrown over the walls in such a way that it seemed like they grew over there naturally) which were adorned with pretty pink and white flowers that only added to the beauty of the magnificent place.

“This way please.” Sehun turned around to the face the chauffeur who had fetched him from his house and nodded his head. Together, they walked in silence towards the brown, gigantic main gate which was opened for them as soon as the chauffeur showed the guards at the gate his identity card.

“How long have you worked here?” He questioned curiously as soon as they were not within the earshot of the guards. The male being questioned turned his head slightly to the side to eye him but kept mum otherwise which he did not appreciate at all.

“Do they let us go out at weekends?” He was ignored, again.

“Have you ever seen a scholarship student failing here?” Maybe that question won’t really give a nice impression of him.

“Do they pay you well?” Sehun tried again when he was ignored yet again.

“Oh- come on! You can talk. I know you can. You just said ‘this way please’,” The irritated male tried his best to copy the tone that the chauffeur has used with him before which sadly seemed to have no effect on the other male.

“Fine, I didn’t want to talk to you anyway.” He grumbled petulantly and instead turned his gaze towards the vast, lush green garden lining both sides of the cobbled path. It was filled with trees of different sizes, had a huge fountain in the middle on each side and if he wasn’t mistaken he saw an oddly, mesmerizing hue of glittering green falling from one of the bluebells hanging down the vines. He was so tempted to ask about them, but his companion for some reason was not keen on talking to him. Maybe it was the part of his job, it was really cruel if that was the case, but he didn’t get why that would be. It’s not like he was going to tell him any secrets and Sehun was going to run away with them.

“We are here. Step inside. I can’t go any further.” The chauffer elucidated and stopped in front of the massive wooden doors that most probably served as the entrance to the academy.

“But how would I-”

“Hope to not see you again.”

_What the fuck is wrong with this guy?_

“I don’t want to see you again too.” He responded bitterly and pushed open the door to step inside so the rude chauffeur won’t be able to insult him again. He, later on, found out that it was actually a well-wish, not an insult because that chauffer was originally assigned for taking failed students back home.

…………

  
“Damn, this place is huge. How am I ever going to find my way in here?” Sehun wondered under his breath as soon as he took in the massive, luxurious interior of the place. Many students were loitering around the entrance hall, but all of them looked busy and he doubted that their pretentious asses would be helping him. Just because the guys at the café were nice didn’t mean all these people would be like them.

Presently, he was the only one dressed in casual clothes because everyone else inside was wearing blue uniforms and made him stand out like a sore thumb. Standing in his place clueless for more than a minute (and thinking hard about what he was supposed to do) he came to the conclusion that he should definitely look for the office, but the problem was that he didn’t even know where to start from. For all he knows, it was not even in this building. That chauffeur was really an ass for leaving him alone like this. After, lurking around for another extra minute, he finally decided to ask one of the students for help. However, a loud, ear-splitting bell rang around the whole place most probably indicating the start of the classes even before he can take a single step.

“Move, you idiot.” Someone urged him to move out of the way in an extremely rude manner and if Sehun would have been any braver and not a new kid, he would have most probably sassed back to the girl that there was so much space around him that she could use to walk. Deciding that he didn’t want any kind of beef on his first day there, he pressed his lips in a thin line and stepped to the side.

“I hate these new scholarship kids.” She grumbled under her breath while walking past him which truly enticed him to reach out and pull at her hairs.

_I’m not fond of you either, bitch._

Sehun groused mentally and looked around if he could find anyone else for help, but the hall was completely devoid of life by that point.

_God. Pretentious snobs._

_They won’t ever let me live in peace._

He was just about done with his thought when a small, white yapping body came crashing into his figure. Now, he was no weak person, but it was totally unexpected so Sehun lost his footing and fell down on the floor with the cute, white (heavy) dog licking at his face as if he had found the one true friend in him. Not yet fully comprehending the situation, he tried to turn his face away from the assault (he normally really loved dogs, but didn’t afford to keep one), but the dog followed him with his eager tongue. In the end, he just gave up and brought his hands up to pet the white beauty which at last seemed to have calmed him down a little.

Seeing that the dog was now a bit sober, Sehun lifted him off his body, placed him on the floor and attempted to get up just as a deep voice rang behind him.

“You must be the new scholarship student. I must say we don’t usually find our future Royal advisors sprawled on the floor.” God forbid him if it was another rich snob. He was either going to kill himself or the other person. Picking himself up, he dusted his clothes and was about to claim – _‘Oh- I didn’t expect a dog to lung on me at a royal school too –_ but thought better of it when he turned around to come face to face with Headmaster Yifan.

“Well, being a future advisor doesn’t mean the gravity becomes your best friend,” Sehun responded sarcastically which caused his Headmaster to tick a brow at him.

“You can certainly learn that.”

“Are you serious? You guys teach that here?” The new student asked dubiously and waved his hand around in the general direction of the hallways.

_Is that even possible?_

_Damn, why don’t they teach that at our schools?_

_All this time, I had fallen on those stupid, slippery roads._

“No, but your magic can certainly help you.” Sehun really can’t tell what Yifan was thinking about him, judging from the brooding expression on his face.

“How do you know my element?” His eyes sparkled as if the new wonders of the world has been opened to him.

“I certainly can’t miss the mark on your neck.” All wonders came tumbling down right that instant. That’s just it. So if he hides his neck they can tell about his stupid gender, but they can’t know his powers.

_How useless?_

_Sehun was ready to start a mutiny._

“Anyway, I’m sorry about Vivi. He is never that friendly to anyone; not even me.” The last part was muttered lowly in wonder, but he still heard it.

_With that bitch face?_

_I’m not even surprised._

_Poor dog._

_Stuck with these rich imbeciles._

“It’s okay. I’m not hurt.”

“That’s great. I will lead you to your locker since your fairy is not doing his job.” Yifan lamented and started walking up the stairs to the side, Vivi followed him effortlessly, so Sehun did too.

“I will get a fairy?” That was so cool. He didn’t even know how his fairy would look like. Will she be tiny? Cute? Pretty? Have bright, yellow glitters around her? And wear green all the time? He won’t mind having such sunshine around. Don’t judge him. The only fairy he knows is the tinker bell.

“Trust me, you won’t be this excited when you meet him.”

_Aww…it’s a ‘he’._

_Still, he can be cute, lively and friendly, have shiny glitters and wear green all the time._

_………._

_   
_“We are here.” Yifan, after not uttering a single word to him throughout the whole walk, informed and stopped in front of a dull-looking steel locker.

“I must say I was expecting something else after seeing all those decorated lockers.” He pointed out with a disappointed frown which his Headmaster didn’t seem to mind at all.

“You’re supposed to decorate it yourself.”

“Oh,” Sehun muttered intelligently and looked around the place awkwardly, not really knowing what he was supposed to say or do.

“So…about my fairy. Is he like the tinker bell?” No sooner than he had completed his sentence, Yifan fell into a fit of laughter; a very long one at that.

“Stop laughing.” Someone deadpanned from right beside his ear. It shocked the new student so much that he swatted at whatever it was. The ‘whatever’ turned out to be his tiny fairy, dressed in all black, who had a brooding face as well (do all people have brooding faces? Do they teach that here too?) and had an air about him that screamed dark. He was currently scowling at his Headmaster who at last seemed to have regained some control over his laughter.

_So much for the bright sunshine._

_At least, he has pink glitters._

“And I am not a freaking tinker bell. What the hell is that even?” The tiny fairy flew to the front and faced him with the same scowl. He had jet black hairs, wide eyes and almost heart-shaped lips. Sehun would have labeled him as at least cute if he didn’t look so cross with him at the moment.

“You don’t know the tinker bell?”

“The hell, I don’t.” The fairy grouched before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Sehun, this is D.O and D.O this is Sehun, your familiar.” Yifan finally stepped in after awkwardly clearing his throat.

“That sounds like a serial killer name.” The student mumbled under his breath and to his bad luck, D.O happened to hear it.

“I’m surprised you found out about my secret personality so soon,” D.O claimed with the shrug of his shoulders which only caused Sehun to look at him in a slightly horrified manner; in hopes that he was joking, but to his chagrin, his fairy looked very much serious.

“This is not funny.” He expressed with a frown which only caused the fairy to shrug his shoulders again.

_Does he have a spring in there or what?_

“You can call me Kyungsoo.” The tiny creature finally made some attempt at being civil.

“D.O is just a stupid name this institute has given me.” Right that moment, a student passed by them with her very own fairy. Sehun was really envious to notice the bright, bubbling lively fairy who was talking to her familiar in such a friendly manner.

“Disgusting.” Kyungsoo expressed before facing him again.

“I hope you don’t expect that from me. I ain’t kissing your ass like that.”

“Uh…I don’t?”

“Great.” Now his fairy seemed satisfied.

“That’s settled then.” Yifan broke in with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“I’ll leave you with your very own ball of sunshine. Believe me, you’ll need him because your time here won’t be easy.” With that, he walked away with Vivi in his tow.

……………

“Okay, now that the nuisance is gone. We should leave too. Follow me.” Kyungsoo instructed as soon as the Headmaster turned the corner.

“Aren’t we supposed to take things from the locker? I don’t have anything with me.” Sehun pointed out just before his fairy can fly away.

“Ah- I almost forgot about your stupid things,” Kyungsoo complained before flying towards the locker and slamming it open.

_Is he even supposed to have that much strength?_

“Here, you’ll need a uniform,” The tiny fellow provided before throwing the articles of uniform in his face.

“Hey-” The student started to protest, but soon he had a book flying in his direction. Ducking down, he barely saved himself from getting hit smack in the middle of his face and let out a small, irritated growl when Kyungsoo just proceeded to throw the bag in his direction as well.

“Kyungsoo, I swear to God-”

“You shouldn’t. Swearing is bad.” The fairy replied before throwing a kit and an old fashioned glass bottle of perfume his way. Letting all the things in his hand fall, Sehun reached out for the bottle (he didn’t want it to break and create a mess; getting in trouble for something his fairy did wasn’t exactly his idea of an ideal first day) and fortunately caught it by the pump, but that’s till where his luck lasted.

Holding onto the pump sadly, compressed it, and caused a heavy amount of perfume to splash out of the nozzle which with impeccable timing landed directly onto the face of the person who was passing by behind him.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry.” Sehun immediately apologized and completely turned around to face the victim of Kyungsoo’s rash behavior who turned out to be none other than Kim Jongin.

“I-I…” The new student trailed off hesitantly when the crown prince turned to face him with the slightest ting of irritation in his expression though it soon morphed into recognition and then finally surprise. He wasn’t exactly hoping to be recognized as the waiter who stared at him in the café, but that was better than having him pissed at him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. Kyungsoo was just-”

“It’s okay.” Kai cut him short in the middle of his babbling and- _Oh, God! _It was illegal how his voice was so deep and rich!

“I saw what happened.” The other male continued and shot a glance over Sehun’s shoulder to look at Kyungsoo who most probably was still throwing stuff out of his locker.

“H-He’s not a bad fairy…just playful.” No matter how mean his fairy has been to him all this time, he just couldn’t ruin his reputation in front of a crown prince.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Jongin consoled with a breathy chuckle. The new student didn’t exactly know what was so funny, but it was kind of fascinating how the other male’s eyes shined with amusement and his cheeks lifted up to reveal a beautiful smile. There was also a dimple on his right cheek which only made him look more charming.

“I am old friends with Kyungsoo.”

“That’s what you think, Jongin.” Sehun didn’t have the guts to scold his fairy when he heard the sarcastic reply from behind himself.

_I’m going to drown him once we are alone._

“He doesn’t mean that.” The new student excused with an awkward smile to save himself from the potential trouble and swatted at his fairy who sadly flew out of the line of fire easily.

“But I do.”

_I’m going to murder him._

“Oh, it’s Kyungsoo.” Before either, he or Jongin can give any sort of a reply, a silver-haired fairy just as tiny in size as his own flew past Sehun to bother Kyungsoo who didn’t welcome him at all.

“Chanyeol.” The raven-haired fairy acknowledged grudgingly.

“Don’t bother me.”

“Come on, Soo! Don’t be mean to me or at least be a little nice to the new scholarship kid.”

“I’m nice.” Kyungsoo deadpanned which made Sehun frown.

“You threw a book in my face.” The familiar protested which caused his fairy to huff.

“It didn’t hit you.” Sehun opened his mouth to object again, but a new voice interrupted him.

“Jeez! Jongin I get it you like the perfume, but must you really marinate in it.” Baekhyun commented before exaggeratingly sniffing the crown prince; who didn’t look impressed at all.

“Shut it, Baek. You saw what happened.” Minseok joined them a second later and grabbed Baekhyun by the collar before dragging him away. Jongin didn’t bother himself with words, but he did throw his eldest friend a thankful smile which Sehun thought was kind of cute.

_Everything about him is so perfect…_

Baekhyun, being the ever resolute person he was, remained undeterred. He threw his friends a playful smile, shucked the hand off his collar and turned to face him; which Sehun really wished he hadn’t.

_Oh boy!_

“You’re Oh Sehun?” Thankfully, Jongin decided to speak up again before Baekhyun could – his eyes betraying piqued interest that made him feel a bit bashful.

“Yeah, the one and only. Now if you excuse us, we have things to do.” Kyungsoo bothered himself to intervene when his familiar took too long to respond. Sehun was kind of thankful to him for this time around because he really didn’t know how he was supposed to treat Jongin. Whether he was to treat him as a fellow student or the esteemed crown prince.

“Ah…you’re the new scholarship student,” Baekhyun interjected while completely ignoring the fairy.

“Yeah, I’m the new scholarship student.” Sehun agreed dumbly before shaking his head with a sigh.

“That is _exactly_ what my parents named me.” That response earned him a few suppressed chuckles.

“Damn, you’re learning from Kyungsoo already,” Baekhyun remarked which made the said fairy snort.

“I’ll take that as an insult.” Kyungsoo drawled from his place before shooting his familiar an annoyed scowl.

“Wow~ aren’t you a cute one,” Sehun claimed sarcastically which caused his scowl to morph into an expression of disgust.

“I am not cute. Don’t ever call me that.” The raven-haired fairy complained. The new student was about to tell him that he was just being sarcastic, but Chanyeol beat him to it.

“You kind of are.” The silver-haired fairy agreed with the familiar and reached out a hand to touch Kyungsoo’s hair who turned around to glare at the poor fairy.

“Jongin, I told you to keep your fairy away from me the last time.” The raven-haired fairy seethed and turned towards the crown prince who was for some reason still looking at his familiar and not paying attention to him.

Kyungsoo has never seen such bullshit before.

“My prince, with all due respect, I know my familiar is kind of hot, but can you please pay attention to _me._ We are discussing serious matters over here such as your fairy spreading his germs to me.”

“Kyungsoo!” Sehun admonished with a flaring face as soon as he heard what his fairy had said and turned around to glare at the tiny thing when he noticed the surprise on Jongin’s face and of course the wild laughter that came from the prince’s friends.

“What? I’m telling the truth.” Kyungsoo objected.

“Shut up or I will shove you inside the locker.”

“I will escape through the holes.”

“I will tape them!”

“And you think, I’ll wait for you to get a tape and not escape?” Sehun, embarrassingly enough, didn’t have a reply to that so he opted to just stay silent and burning in shame.

“I thought so too,” Kyungsoo claimed smugly before flying towards the locker again.

_If he threw something out again I will-_

Something soft hit the back of his head.

_Never mind…_

“Don’t mind him, Sehun.” Chanyeol came over to float right in front of his face.

“He’s all bark, but no bite. He’s an actual teddy bear from inside and of course, he likes me a lot.”

“Chanyeol, just because I’m busy doesn’t mean you can spout shit that is not true.” Kyungsoo's voice reached their ears again.

“I’m your boyfriend, Kyungsoo. I know you.” The new information that Chanyeol revealed conveniently caused Sehun’s brain to short-circuit.

“Wait- he’s your boyfriend?” The new familiar demanded incredulously and turned to face his fairy who (if he was not mistaken – he was not) was blushing.

_Can fairies have boyfriends?_

“Leave me alone!” His voice came out a bit whiny which made Sehun smile in amusement.

“Hey! Aren’t you the café guy?” A new voice joined them after a small moment of silence (which the new student spent contemplating whether he was supposed to apologize to Jongin or not for what his fairy has said) and startled almost everyone.

“The café guy?” Chanyeol butted in before Sehun could confirm to Jongdae, the newcomer, that he was indeed the café guy.

“You guys sneaked out again….without me!” The silver-haired fairy groaned and flew to his familiar who didn’t seem one bit bothered by what Kyungsoo has accused him of.

“Jongin!”

“You were busy with Kyungsoo, Chanyeol,” Jongin replied calmly which seemed to have placated the fairy.

“Y-You served us at Coffico? The guy we bumped into?” Baekhyun asked again to confirm his identity, this time not looking as cheerful as he had been all this time.

“Yeah?” Sehun wasn’t so sure what was wrong with that.

“So you know me and Jongdae are dating?” Baekhyun continued, looking extremely uncomfortable.

“Kind of?” His answer didn’t exactly help in pacifying the other male.

“Am I…not supposed to?”

“Not exactly,” This time it was Jongdae who replied with a nervous chuckle.

“Oh.” The new student breathed out before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“If it is any assurance, I won’t tell anyone about it.”

“You won’t?” Baekhyun looked like someone has breathed life back into him.

“Why should I?” Sehun inquired with a frown and looked back at Kyungsoo in exasperation when he yet again threw something out of the locker.

“It is your personal matter and I don’t think I have the right to spread any kind of information about you if it makes you uncomfortable.” He continued and finally walked towards the locker to swat the fairy away. Sadly, like always, Kyungsoo managed to get out of the way before he was able to inflict any kind of damage on him.

“I like him.” Jongdae approved, completely ignoring the new familiar’s attempt at killing Kyungsoo, and stepped closer to his group of friends.

“He’s different.”

“Not really,” Sehun interjected with a snort. He was never good with compliments, especially if they come from nice people.

“My mom just taught me how to respect other people’s privacy.”

“You grew up in a common household, didn’t you?” There was nothing condescending in the way Minseok asked that question; contrary to that he looked genuinely curious.

“If that’s how you guys call it.” He affirmed with a nonchalant shrug and turned towards Kyungsoo when the fairy lightly pulled on his sleeve to get his attention.

“We should go. They soon have classes to attend and I have to show you around before it is the curfew time. This place is huge.”

“What about all the mess that you’ve created here?” Sehun questioned while pointing towards his skewed uniform, bag, and books on the floor. His fairy just gave him an annoyed look before he casually waved his hand in the air; the tips of his fingers shining a light shade of pink. All the things littering the floor, as if they have a mind of their own, started floating in the air and slowly flew towards the locker. The familiar watched in stupefied silence as everything neatly took its respective place before the steel door was closed shut and locked.

“Now shall we move on?” Sehun had no other choice than to agree; he was honestly in too much awe to process anything at that time. He gave a small, courteous bow to his companions and followed Kyungsoo out of the hall after biding them a hasty farewell because his fairy had not bothered himself to wait for his familiar and was already about to turn the corner.

* * *

Kyungsoo had been serving at the Royal Charm Academy for a very long time now. Actually, serving won’t be the appropriate word since it has been years since he was last assigned to anyone. Upon asking, he had told Sehun that he was a royal fairy (the royals were allowed to keep their fairies with them even after they graduate from the university) and his familiar was the Queen of Gardania herself. His fairy hadn’t expanded on that subject a lot – it seemed to him that Kyungsoo was still not over her death – and had proceeded to tell him that after his familiar’s death he didn’t have the heart to be assigned to someone else. He also told him that he was especially really close with the baby Prince Shixun and had promised the Queen to serve as his fairy in the future, but-

_“You know what happened, right?”_

Yifan, having known him for years (now Sehun knew why the Headmaster was so casual with his fairy and knew him so well), have respected his wishes. He was allowed to live at the castle and he did so for some time, but in the end, he had asked to be sent to the academy again when Baekhyun started his studies at the institute.

_“I can tolerate him well enough and was bored without him at the palace.”_

Still, he wasn’t to be assigned to anyone and Sehun was actually the first one he has willingly taken up after so many years of being free which confused the new student a lot.

_“Why me?” He couldn’t really stop himself from asking that._

_“I don’t know.” Kyungsoo had responded with a conflicted sigh._

_“I have never even thought about taking someone up, but when they were talking about what fairy to assign to the new scholarship student I just felt this tug inside me that I couldn’t explain. I wanted to help you around.” At that moment, Sehun had decided to cherish his fairy more than anyone could ever. After all, he had broken his years’ long resolution to help him around. That’s the least he could do, especially after what he has gone through. He didn’t know how deep the connection between a fairy and the familiar was, but it must have some depth if Kyungsoo mourned his old familiar’s death to this day; even her child’s absence ate him. _

_ Chanyeol was right. His fairy was a softie inside._

_“Yifan was so shocked. You should have seen his face. Baekhyun told me he was happy for me…you know. I have known him since he was a little kid. Jongin and Minseok too. Jongdae came later on and then, of course, Chanyeol was assigned to Jongin.” There was such a fond smile on his face when he took his boyfriend’s name._

  
Coming back to himself, Sehun has three roommates and to his luck, Kyungsoo happened to know them very well already since they kind of moved in the same social circle. They have been really nice to him so far though he has met only two of them (Yixing, a medical major student with the magic of healing and Junmyeon, a marine biology major with no magic) because the third one, Luhan as Yixing has kindly provided, was still away and would join them straight on the day of the official inauguration of the semester which would be tomorrow after the orientation that they have to attend in the evening that day.

It has been a week since Sehun arrived at the academy. A long week of mile-long paper works (that to his surprise every new student has to do) which, to his fortune, Kyungsoo took care of, before he can properly start his classes. He had gotten pretty close to his roommates in this limited time (at least the ones he got to meet) what with him spending all his day holed up inside the room and refusing to go out until he absolutely had to.

The new student felt truly blessed that he didn’t get the snobby ones as his roommate who would make his life a living hell and was really thankful for it. Actually, he was lucky enough to have another scholarship student in his room (Junmyeon) who was a year above him. He has promised to help him in getting adjusted to the new environment which Sehun really appreciated to avoid any sort of a disaster. Seriously, Yixing and Junmyeon have been nothing, but supportive to him.

According to what Kyungsoo has told him, each room houses four students – one from each year before the final years' graduate. All the programs provided in their university were of four years, however, the crown princes and princess were given an extra year at the institute to properly hone their skills; so the fifth years in their academy were basically the future rulers of different kingdoms. That knowledge brought them to the grand reveal that Kai wasn’t the only crown prince among his group of friends.

Kim Jongdae and Kim Minseok were the crown princes of Kingdom Aria and Kingdom Zealea, respectively. Byun Baekhyun, on the other hand, was in the line for the throne of Gardania. Byun Yohan, his father, was the brother of Byun Yeon-Seok who became the King of their Kingdom after marrying Wu Qing Shan. Since the true heir of the throne is still missing (or perhaps dead) and Yifan, who is also the prince of Gardania, does not have any kids the person who deserves the throne the most in the eyes of the law is Baekhyun.

Sehun had thought that it was cool until Kyungsoo revealed to him with thinly veiled disgust that it was _anything, _but cool because apparently, Byun Yohan was an asshole; a very major one to his son.

_“I have always wanted to shove cactus up his ass, but Baekhyun stopped me every time.”_

Mr. Byun has always pushed his only child past his limits and has treated him as an instrument rather than a human being. There were also rumors that he had killed his wife; the rumors that his son whole-heartedly believed. Baekhyun did not wish to have the throne, especially not after knowing how badly his father wanted it. He did not wish to have all those responsibilities on his shoulders. Plus, he knew how evil his father was. The Kingdom was going to face a nightmare if Byun Yohan managed to possess even a small amount of control over it.

To say that, the new student was shocked to hear it was an understatement, but the next thing that Kyungsoo revealed to him was even more shocking.

Byun Yohan planned on getting his son married to Kim Jongin (his fairy looked openly disgusted by that point) for his own material gains because one Kingdom was not enough for him. He wanted more and the perfect opportunity was presented to him when he came to know that a promise of marriage was made between the rulers of Caslera and Gardania when the King and Queen were still alive.

  
_“Are Jongin and Baekhyun going to get married?” Sehun had felt strangely disappointed._

_“Are you kidding me? Baekhyun and Jongin have been friends since their childhood. They’re like brothers to each other.” Kyungsoo had cleared up instantly with a scowl. _

_“But royal promises are not made to be broken.” At least that’s what he had heard._

_“Byun Yohan is an idiot! The exact promise was the marriage between prince Kai and Shixun, **not** the rulers of both the Kingdom. He just believed the word of mouth. He wasn’t even there when the promise was made. I was! Plus, it was just a verbal promise, no written documents were involved.”_

_“Does Baekhyun know that?”_

_“Yeah, I told Baekhyun and Jongin when they came to me with that worry. Baekhyun and Jongdae loved each other. Jongin didn’t want to be the reason for their break-up. His parents also know exactly what promise they made. That’s why they are not exactly worried about that pest.”_

_“Shouldn’t you tell Byun Yohan about it as well?” Sehun had inquired with a confused frown._

_“I’ll be damned if I do. That fool can dream. Yifan hadn’t bothered himself with telling him anything so why should I?”_

_“So Jongin is not obliged to marry anyone?”_

_“Not that I know of. Why? Are you interested in him?”_

_“What? N-No! Kyungsoo!” The look on his fairy’s face clearly told him that he did not believe him which honestly had offended Sehun because he was telling the truth. He might find Jongin attractive, but he also knew that the other was a crown prince and he was just a mere commoner who can’t even use his powers properly. Plus, Jongin had a lot of people to choose from why should it be Sehun?_

_  
_“Sehun, how did you like the orientation?” Junmyeon asked as soon as the Headmaster Yifan dismissed the student body by asking them to form two lines and bow to each other because – _‘a true royal is always courteous towards others.’_

“It was nice?” He wasn’t sure how else he was supposed to respond. The orientation was not exactly anything special. It was pretty boring if he was, to be honest. The Headmaster and the teachers kept on raving about their courses, the facilities that the institute provided (which Kyungsoo has shown him already) and of course, the important alumnus (he wasn’t about to tell anyone he didn’t recognize more than half of them) who have made the academy proud.

“You know, you can tell us that you found it boring. We won’t fault you for that.” Yixing laughed and draped an arm over his shoulders before guiding him towards the left line that still held some space for them.

“It was certainly nothing interesting.” Sehun snorted before bowing to the person in front of him and moving on towards the next one.

“It _really_ wasn’t. Imagine, this is my second year here.” Junmyeon agreed with a frown and shifted forward with the line while bowing.

“In that case, it is my _fourth _year.” Yixing pointed out which made Junmyeon scowl at him.

“Nobody asked you to speak.” The new student chortled at the exchange between his friends and shook his head.

“I get it. Both of you have suffered and all this bowing is seriously killing my- aah!” They were in the middle of a narrow wooden bridge over the small, but pretty pond (he presumed it was there for the aesthetic purposes rather than convenience) when Sehun felt someone trying to squeeze past behind him. It wouldn’t have been a problem if he hadn’t been in a mid-bow and whoever was behind him hadn’t pushed him forward a little to make some space which ultimately caused him to lose balance and trip forward into the person who sadly _just_ rose from a bow as well.

Sehun heard a choked, surprised noise from whoever he had bumped into before the body in front of him stumbled back into the railing (which was dangerously short – _damn _those fucking aesthetics) and a strong arm came up to wrap around his waist in hopes of maybe keeping both of them from falling into the pond.

“Oh…God…” That was most probably the worst scare of his life, second only to that one time he found a cockroach in his bed. How embarrassing would it have been if the kind stranger hadn’t caught him on time? He would have freaking fallen into the pond and humiliated himself in front of everyone. It would have been a disaster; his control over gravity can only help so much.

“Are you alright?” Sehun heard someone asking from the side and slowly (the irrational fear that he would still somehow end up in the water gripping him) lifted his head up to come face to face with Minseok who was standing next to his savior. A low whisper of suspicion settled in his mind which caused the dreed to well up inside him.

_Please, not Jongin._

_Please, not Jongin._

It was **_Jongin._**

The other male was currently leaning against the railing (looking precariously on the edge of tipping over) with a slightly startled expression and had managed to support both their body weight with only one hand against the wooden side (no Sehun did not notice those bulging veins and he did not think that his cologne was nice) since the other one was wrapped around his waist.

“It is you again?” The crown prince inquired, now appearing fairly neutral (a complete opposite of Sehun who looked scared to death and maybe a bit mortified), though the slight touch of incredulousness that seeped into his tone was kind of obvious, especially when he was literally plastered against the crown prince’s body which was rather sturdy – at least that was what he could conclude from where his hands were placed against his chest.

_God damn it!_

_He must think I’m a clumsy, embarrassing mess._

_This is not even my fault… _

“I-I am sorry.” The new student can’t believe that he had met the prince for a total of three times and yet he had somehow managed to cause him inconvenience twice; not to mention he was caught staring at him like a fool once too.

“Someone just passed by me and pushed me forward.” He continued with a nervous chuckle and took a step away from Jongin who slowly straightened himself too with amusement evident in his eyes.

“You two seem to run in a lot of accidents.” Sehun heard Baekhyun’s smug observation before he actually saw his smug face, but he was already too embarrassed to entertain the other male.

“I’m sorry! I’m not usually this clumsy.” The new student apologized again with a small bow before straightening up and throwing his friends a look that screamed _help._

“It is okay.” The crown prince assured patiently before directing a subtle smirk his way.

“I could use a warning next time though.” Sehun was about to tell him that if he had that much time this all wouldn’t have happened at all and there would be _no_ next time, but Yixing beat him to it.

“Don’t worry, Sehunnie. Jongin here is only rumored to be an ice-prince. He won’t sentence you to death for bumping into him.”

“That is not funny, Yixing.” Jongin deadpanned with the roll of his eyes.

“I have never sentenced anyone to death and I am not that scary.” Sehun wanted to point out that he looked pretty intimidating at that moment and he had no idea how people were scared of that cold aura he gave off, but in the end, decided to stay silent.

“The last part of your sentence is debatable.” Jongdae specified with a serene smile before he turned towards Sehun and pointed towards something over his shoulder.

“I think your fairy is up to some mischief.” Apparently, Jongdae was a bit late in informing him that because a scream resonated around the open garden as soon as he was done speaking. The new familiar instantly turned around in his place when he heard the repeated shouts of _‘take it off me’_ and leveled his fairy with a glare when he innocently flew up to him.

“Kyungsoo, what did you do?” He hissed lowly, not wanting the other students around him to know that the commotion was in any way linked to him.

“Threw a bug at her.” The fairy replied nonchalantly.

“Why?” Sehun demanded, looking quite baffled.

“She pushed you on purpose,” Kyungsoo informed before crossing his arms over his tiny chest with a frown – literally the fairy was just about the size of his hand.

“They act all tough and forget that they are scared of bugs.” The familiar choose not to let his fairy know that he, _himself_, was scared of bugs in fear that Kyungsoo will use it against him in the future when he pisses him off.

* * *

“Hey, Sehun! How was your first day?” Yixing inquired as soon as he stepped inside the room.

“A disaster.” Sehun groaned in response and unceremoniously threw his body on the bed given to him.

“Hey, it can’t be that bad.” His roommate consoled which only prompted the new student to throw him a glare.

“I am bad at everything.” He complained and forced himself to sit straight.

“I don’t know how to balance freaking books on my head. Actually, I do. It is easy for me with my powers, you know? I have a good posture naturally, but a stupid guy in my class hates me and decided to trip me in front of everyone. The teacher said nothing to him!”

“That’s bad. The teacher should have scolded him.” Yixing noted with a displeased frown.

“That’s not the only thing. I don’t know how to hold a sword to save my life and I have absolutely zero knowledge of my power. I don’t know the royal _‘etiquettes’ _that you guys follow. I don’t know how to properly pour tea or which freaking spoon to use. They all are the same to me. I don’t know how to hold my wine glass and I don’t know the freaking history of the magic people.” Sehun vented heatedly before rubbing his palms over his face in a stressed manner.

“Hey, Sehun,” Yixing called out to him softly and put aside the books in his lap to make his way towards his bed.

“I know this is difficult. Junmyeon had the same troubles as you. He didn’t even have the powers, but look he’s still here and doing fine. You’ll get the hang of the things, don’t worry.” The elder male tried to console him and patted his head with a small smile. The new student didn’t know what he did in his past life to deserve such good roommates.

“Plus, the royal etiquettes classes are only going to last for this semester. From the next one, you would be able to choose your major and focus on it. I’m not saying these classes would vanish completely because I’m in the fourth year and I still have them, but they would be more spaced.”

“Do you really think I can do this?” Sehun wasn’t so sure about it anymore.

“Of course, you can,” Yixing confirmed resolutely.

“Kyungsoo last night talked to us about helping you while you were sleeping.” He squeezed his shoulder before continuing.

“Luhan agreed to help you with the royal etiquette since he’s a crown prince himself and has been trained in these things since he was a kid.” Luhan was his missing roommate who returned last night. He was in his fourth year, majoring in political sciences and possessed the magic of telekinesis. He was a pretty nice guy as long as you stay away from his bed.

“Junmyeon has already agreed to help you with his own experience as a scholarship student. I will initiate you in the dancing club once the time comes for the registrations to begin which will automatically help you in the ballroom dance class.” That was at least something to be excited about. Sehun loved dancing and he was pretty good at it if he was to say so himself.

“What if I still fail?”

“Kyungsoo won’t let you, seriously,” Yixing assured with a snort.

“He said that he would talk Yifan into training you with your powers since he’s the best at that. Besides that, our late Queen had the same magic as you. He should know how to help you properly.”

“Why would Yifan help me?” The new student doubted that the Headmaster would be keen on helping him out of all the students.

“He likes me a lot, that’s why.” Kyungsoo burst inside the room with Luhan and Junmyeon following him. Trailing behind them were also the three fairies Tao (Luhan’s sprite as fairies are called according to Kyungsoo), Suzy (Junmyeon’s sprite) and Sunmi (Yixing’s sprite).

“It didn’t look like it the last time I saw you two together.” Sehun pointed out which made his fairy scoff.

“Don’t worry. We like each other well enough.”

“Sehun, I heard about what happened in the poise class today. Are you alright?” Junmyeon inquired once he had settled his things down on his desk.

“Yeah, I heard from Jongdae that some junior purposely tripped you,” Luhan confirmed the news with furrowed brows.

“I can’t believe they still do that.”

“I’m fine.” The victim grouched and fell back on his bed.

“Nobody got to make fun of me, at least not to my face because Jongdae came to help me up right away.” Jongdae was in the third year of the university, majored in International Relations and had the magic of lightening. He only had one poise class per week and by some miracle shared it with Sehun. Kyungsoo had told him beforehand that seniors sometimes shared classes with the first years. The new student was so glad that he didn’t share that class with Jongin.

“Don’t worry, I took care of that guy.” His fairy’s nonchalant claim had Sehun shooting up in his place again.

“What did you do?” He demanded, more curious then dreadful.

“Nothing. I just caused him to trip too…” That wasn’t so bad.

“…into the fountain.”

“Kyungsoo!”

“What?” Kyungsoo protested with a scowl.

“He deserved it. No one messes with my familiar.”

* * *

  
“Sehun!” The new student stopped and turned around in his place when he heard someone calling his name.

“Jongdae.” Sehun greeted with a slightly confused smile as soon as the other male was standing in front of him. It was funny how short Jongdae was compared to him.

“Are you headed for the class?” The crown prince inquired with a smile of his own (which was honestly a lot brighter than his’) and beckoned for him to continue walking with a gesture of his hand.

“Yeah. I just stopped by my locker to drop some stuff off.” The taller male affirmed before hiking up the strap of his bag and throwing Jongdae a curious look.

“Why?”

“Nothing. We have the poise class together so I was thinking that maybe I can go there with you. It gets boring when I am alone.” A snort left Sehun’s lips before he could stop it.

“I’m pretty sure you have other friends in the class.”

“Not really,” The prince responded with the shrug of his shoulders.

“I hate two-faced people so I like to distance myself with them. Not that I’m implying that everyone is two-faced, but I don’t really know them well.”

“You know me well?”

“You know, you can tell me that you don’t want to go with me directly.” Jongdae pointed out blankly which caused the relatively new student to firmly shake his head in denial.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Sehun objected with a frown which earned him an entertained laugh from the other.

“I know, Sehun. I was just joking.” The prince pacified him before making a left turn which he was sure did not lead to their class, but he can be wrong too since the whole place was still so foreign to him.

“But to answer your question, I think I can trust you.”

“You barely know me.” The taller male pointed out and raised a skeptical brow when he saw Jongdae grinning.

“Well, you haven’t gone around spreading rumors about me and Baekhyun yet which honestly I’m really thankful for and Kyungsoo seems to really like you too. He is a good judge of character so I’ll give you the benefit of doubt.”

“And?”

“There is no and.”

“As far as I have managed to know Kyungsoo in these past two weeks there ought to be another reason.” Sehun deadpanned making his companion whistle.

“I can’t believe you cracked the ‘Code: Kyungsoo’ so soon.” Jongdae marveled looking quite impressed.

“So there is another reason.”

“Kind of?” The crown prince revealed hesitantly before heaving a defeated sigh.

“Kyungsoo is just worried about you. He didn’t like what happened in the class last week and asked me to stick close to you which honestly I had no problem with. I was serious when I said it is really boring alone and I like you.”

“He worries about me too much.” Sehun shook his head fondly.

“I am not some damsel in distress.” He really wasn’t. He would admit that he had let some things pass in the first few passing days solely because he hadn’t wanted to create any sort of drama (and because he was totally oblivious sometimes like in the garden), but he also knew when to stand up for himself.

“I’m not saying you are and I’m sure Kyungsoo doesn’t think of you like that, but sometimes these stuck-up aristocrats can be really vicious. You can never know when harmless pranks would turn into something dangerous if they are not stopped.” Jongdae clarified with a grimace and started climbing up the stairs to the second floor.

“You are one of them.” Sehun pointed out with an amused smile which only increased in size when the other male shrugged his shoulders.

“That is why you should listen to me and stick close.”

“Noted.” The new student agreed breezily before continuing.

“Anyway, isn’t our class on the first floor?”

“It is. We are headed for my locker.” The crown prince revealed with a sheepish smile which caused Sehun to roll his eyes.

….........

“Oh, hey, Sehun.” Sehun, who was leaning against the locker next to Jongdae’s, straightened up in his place and turned to face Baekhyun.

“Hey.” He replied and got out of the way when he noticed that the locker he was leaning against was Baekhyun’s and he was most probably stopping him from accessing it. The shorter male gave him a thankful smile before keying in his code and opening the door.

“I see, you’ve made good friends with Jongdae.”

“More like Kyungsoo forced him to babysit me.” The new student pointed out and stepped away just in time Jongdae swung a book his way.

“Would you stop saying that?”

“I was just joking.” Sehun protested with a scowl and moved to stand behind Baekhyun just in case the crown prince decided to use violence against him again.

“I will assume that you guys have the poise class,” Baekhyun concluded with an amused smile before pulling out his books and slamming the locker shut.

“Yeah, we have the class together.” The taller one drawled before waving his hand towards the book in the other male’s hand.

“What class do you have?” If he remembers correctly Jongin, Baekhyun and Minseok are majoring in law and are in their fourth, third and fifth years respectively.

“Criminal Law.” Baekhyun groaned and patted the top of the bulky book.

“I already dread it.”

“Stop exaggerating.” Both, Baekhyun and Sehun, turned around at the same time to look at the person who has interrupted their conversation.

“Minseok, just because you found it easy doesn’t mean Baekhyun has to too.” Jongdae slurred before shutting his locker as well.

_Freaking finally._

“I stand by my point.” Minseok asserted monotonously and turned to face Sehun.

“Have you seen Kyungsoo? Amber, my sprite, was with him and I can’t find her anywhere.”

“He told me he’ll find Chanyeol before my last class. I haven’t seen him since then.” Sehun informed with furrowed brows and unconsciously turned to face Jongin (he has arrived with Minseok, but had stood there silently like always) because they were talking about his fairy too.

“Chanyeol was talking about going to the spring meadows on a date with Kyungsoo. Amber might be with Eunwoo and Kihyun.” The tanned male provided off-handedly before opening the locker on the opposite side.

“Eunwoo went to get the courier that came for me so make it Kihyun,” Baekhyun added in helpfully.

“Might as well.” Minseok shrugged the matter off before throwing Jongdae a look over his shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you guys be heading for the class? The first bell rang a minute or so ago. I know you’re a senior, but Sehun is not. You will get him in trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jongdae rolled his eyes and faced Sehun with a grimace.

“Ready for the boring class?”

“Actually, it is the only class I’m somewhat good at.” The new student commented off-handedly with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“I almost forgot it was your first week here. How is it going so far?” Minseok wondered out loud before Jongdae can give him any sort of response.

“Do you want the nice answer or the truth?” Sehun inquired as a response which caused the other male to tick a brow.

“Truth, perhaps.”

“I am failing at everything.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Baekhyun interjected with a frown.

_Yixing said the same thing…_

“Did I forget to add miserably so?” Sehun lamented with a cringe instead of voicing his thoughts out loud which only made his companions laugh lightly.

“You sound like you can’t stand another day of it.” Jongdae pointed out with a grin.

“Not yet.” He responded listlessly.

“It is just really hard to adjust in.”

“It _is_ indeed very hard to adjust in here.” Jongin surprisingly concurred before any of his friends can say anything and softly closed the door of his locker.

“Give it some time and try your best. There is nothing that hard work cannot achieve.” The crown prince advised (looking as serious as one person could) while looking at him straight in the eyes. Sehun for a second forgot how to breathe properly and he would have most probably made a fool out of himself while gaping at the other (where was Kyungsoo when he needed him) if it was not for Baekhyun.

“This, Sehun, was the golden advice from the golden boy (literally and figuratively) of the academy,” Baekhyun informed and draped an arm over Jongin’s shoulders.

“T-Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” Sehun directed his response towards the renowned golden boy with a small, shy smile which earned him a nod of acknowledgment.

“No thanks to me?” Baekhyun butted in again.

“No.”

“But I-”

“Okay. I think we should really head for the class.” Jongdae interrupted his boyfriend and tugged at Sehun’s arm to make him walk towards the stairs that were mere ten steps from their place. The new student went along with him without any complaints and waved a hand over his shoulder as a farewell.

“We are like fifteen minutes late for the class. Would I really be in a lot of trouble?” Sehun asked after chancing a glance at the clock hung in the hallway.

“I won’t say a lot.”

“How much then?”

“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” Jongdae teased cheekily and put a hand behind his back to urge him to descend the stairs first.

“Kyungsoo won’t be happy if he knew that I got into trouble because of – fuck!” Sehun wasn’t sure what happened. It all happened so fast and suddenly that he didn’t even get a chance to think properly. One moment, he was walking ahead of Jongdae (as he was prompted) to climb down the stairs and the other second, there was a hard tug on both his feet before he lost his balance and came barreling down. His elbow hit the metal rod at the side in a painful manner (even after he had slowed his fall down with his power) and he would have most probably busted his head open by hitting the corner end if it wasn’t for a sudden body that appeared in front of him; like literally the person appeared out of nowhere and caught him by the shoulders just in time.

“What the hell?” He heard Jongdae’s surprised query before lifting his head up to gaze at his savior who _very_ shockingly turned out to be Jongin.

“How did you…?” Sehun started, looking extremely dumbfounded (last time he checked Jongin has not followed them so how was he so quick to get there), but ended up only trailing off when he noticed that the tanned male was looking – _glaring –_ at something behind him.

Letting out a trembling breath (it was still hard to process the whole situation since he was scared shitless), Sehun pulled himself away from Jongin’s hold and attempted to step away, but the other male stopped him by tightening his hold on his shoulders.

“Fix your laces first.” The crown prince instructed while mentioning towards his shoes with his eyes. Sehun followed his gaze slowly and balked when he saw what the reason behind his fall was.

_Why the hell are the laces of my both shoes tied together?_

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” It was only then did be notice Baekhyun scolding someone.

“It was just a harmless prank, senior.” A girly voice argued though it lacked conviction and sounded more troubled.

_A prank…_

_This was a prank…**just** a stupid prank that could have landed me in a hospital._

_Jongdae was right._

_These people are vicious. _

“A harmless prank?” Minseok scoffed condescendingly.

“He could have gotten a fatal head injury.”

“But I didn’t mean for him to get injured.” The culprit defended herself which only caused Sehun to bristle.

_What the hell is wrong with these people?_

“You and your fairy will be reporting to the headmaster for this,” Jongin warned decisively and finally took his hands off his shoulders which he clearly did not miss; not at all.

“But Prince-”

“It is okay.” Sehun honestly didn’t know what came over him when he said that and crouched down to fix the laces of the shoes. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t want any of them to fight his battles for him. Maybe he didn’t want to bother himself with useless people or maybe he was afraid that getting someone in trouble like this would make him a bigger target. He just wanted to graduate from the institute as peacefully as he could without stirring up unnecessary drama.

“What do you mean? This is not okay.” Jongdae objected sharply from behind.

“Guys, seriously, I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Sehun beseeched without looking up from his shoes. He was angry too, more than all of them, but he also knew what was best for him.

“See…the new kid knows his place.” The smug claim that followed his statement made him want to punch the bitch in her face, but his mother had taught him better than that.

“Besides that, it’s not my fault that he is useless and can’t even use his powers-” Sehun shot up in his place and turned around to aim a scathing glare at the snobbish girl – all thoughts of not stirring up a drama flying out the right window of his mind.

“_I, _also know when to shut my mouth, but you clearly don’t.” He spat out with barely contained anger which seemed to have offended the girl a lot; not that it bothered him, for all he cared she could have screamed bloody murder at that moment.

“You-”

“I hope you will learn it once you’re expelled from here.” It was satisfying to see the color leaving her face rapidly.

“Please, call me when I have to testify against her.” He gave Jongdae a grave smile before picking up his bag and making his way down to the first floor where he was initially supposed to be.

* * *

Needless to say, Kyungsoo wasn’t happy when he found out about what happened (he was freaking livid) and he would have snapped the girl’s head off (not literally) if Sehun had not stopped him. The fairy had, however, practically dragged his familiar to the headmaster’s office later when he was called to testify since the taller male was having second thoughts about it now that his anger has cooled down.

Long story short, the girl was issued a warning. The next time she even tries to bother him would be her last day at the institute. Jongdae and Minseok (they were the ones who had actually reported the matter to the headmaster) hadn’t been happy with Yifan’s decision but had conceded in the end nonetheless when she was given a week’s detention.

Kyungsoo sadly was not satisfied. He had called Yifan stupid before angrily flying out the office leaving behind Sehun to apologize for his behavior to the headmaster who thankfully did not look as offended as he should.

It all happened two weeks ago though (today officially marked his first month at the Royal Charms Academy) and the new student was ready to put it all behind his back. His fairy wasn’t so keen on doing the same (he glowered in rage whenever he saw that girl in the hallways and it was a wonder how she was still alive), but they were getting there.

As the days progressed and courses started to become more expansive (at least for those who had a major decided), the students grew busier, especially the seniors, which meant that he hadn’t had many chances to speak with the elite group (that’s what they call Jongin and his friends here. It was pretty befitting since three of them were definite future rulers and the fourth one was in the line – they were elite in every sense) again after the fiasco in the headmaster’s office. Jongdae was the only one he had met in the poise class frequently, but their conversations were very brief and chopped since the trainer of their class was really strict. Sehun was kind of sad about it for very obvious reasons that he pretended to be oblivious of.

On the brighter note, he wasn’t as hopeless a case in his classes as he was before. He wasn’t an excellent student (royal life was not made for the kinds of him), but he also wasn’t the worst which was a big achievement in his eyes. The teachers have finally started taking him seriously and the bullying has dropped immensely. In other words, the new student was passing his days in peace; even his roommates noted that he looked more settled in than he did initially. It was, of course, all thanks to them and Kyungsoo.

  
“I heard that you are going to leave for two months.” Sehun inquired with a curious tilt to his head and looked at Luhan (who was walking beside him) for the confirmation.

“Hmm…yeah, I am.” The crown prince hummed in agreement before he slightly turned his head to face him.

“Who told you that?” They were currently making their way to the stables (that the new student didn’t even know exist) where the rich kids kept their horses. Luckily, Luhan was one of them and had at the very least three horses in the stables presently. They have been talking about random things in the room (Yixing and Junmyeon had gone out for some club activities which reminded him that he needed to ask his friend about his initiation in the dance club as well) when Sehun had mentioned in the passing that he used to go horse riding with his father a lot and absolutely loved it, but hadn’t been able to do so since his death. Luhan had been quick to offer him his horses and thus they were here.

“Yixing was talking about it to Tao,” Sehun replied with the shrug of his shoulders and kicked at the white snow in his path. The winter season at the Royal Charm Academy was a little _unusual _at the best. The weather was definitely cold (he feels like he’s going to freeze in a block of ice if he ever steps out of his centrally heated room without a blazer) though it wasn’t as cold as it normally was. Back at home, he had to bundle himself up (he was really sensitive to cold), but the Academy was relatively warm in comparison to his home, school or even the café. Maybe it was the central heating or maybe it was magic.

_I should ask Kyungsoo about it._

Sehun made a mental note to himself and tipped his head up with squinted eyes to take a proper look at the mini castle that constituted their Academy. The sky was dull and dim in the background. There was no sunlight, but a slightly brightened part of the endless grey sky denoted that the source was hiding there somewhere behind the eerie, heavy clouds. The over-all silvery backdrop made the reddish-brown color of the architect stand out – virtually in an enthralling manner – which somehow added to the grandeur of the structure.

It wasn’t hailing at the moment (he would have died before stepping out if it were), but the snow was hugging the whole edifice in the form of a thin sheet. It appeared almost like an incomplete canvas; as if the artist wanted to paint it all white, but has left it undone half-way for some reason. The pointed shingled roofs of the erected towers were covered with dripping icicles or maybe it were the frozen vines, he couldn’t really tell. Seriously, it was a beautifully painted picture even if it seemed incomplete; the kind of beauty that was a bit rare. 

He hadn’t had many chances to visit the outside world (not any chances actually) after he had arrived at the institute, really he hadn’t even bothered himself to visit the gardens or courtyards that he was allowed to have access to.

“Figures.” Luhan’s brief answer snapped him out of his vivid observations.

“Wouldn’t this affect your studies?” The chuckle that he got as a response was quite confusing.

“As a crown prince, this is a part of my training.” His friend informed before putting a hand on his thigh to wordlessly stop him from kicking the snow again which the new student compliantly did. After all, the crown prince has been teaching him royal etiquettes for a month now and what he was doing at the moment was contrary to the elegant image that he’s supposed to present.

“The Royal Charm Academy introduced this program a few years back and it has been pretty effective. All the crown princes are required to go back to their respective Kingdoms for two months in the second quarter of each semester and officially handle some small scale and big scale matters under guided supervision.” His friend elaborated further, most probably due to the confused frown that was marring his face.

“You know, for practical vision and other heavy stuff. That is why we stay at the Academy for an extra year.”

“That sounds important.” Sehun pointed out with a grimace which caused Luhan to snort.

“It is important, Sehun. We are the future of our Kingdom; one wrong move can destroy thousands of lives.”

“No that’s just plain depressing.”

“It is practical.” The crown prince countered with the roll of his eyes and stopped by a white fence.

“Anyway, we are here.”

…………

_Prince _was the name of the beautiful, white horse that was offered to Sehun (no doubt the name suited him – the horse looked so elegant that he had been in an awe for a long second before he had been snapped out of it by the stable boy when he guided the horse out) by Luhan because it was the crown prince’s personal favorite. He was also apparently the oldest one and the most well trained out of the three horses that his friend had. The other two were relatively new and were a bit hard-mouthed according to what Luhan has told him. One of them was sadly also quite sick and his friend hasn’t been happy with that information, especially when he was told that his ailed horse was not even examined by the vet yet.

  
_“Prince is outside already. You should go and have fun. Just stick to the path, okay? I’ll see what I can do about Fanny.” The crown prince has felt guilty for leaving him on his own devices, but Sehun has assured him that he was not a kid and was perfectly capable of navigating his way around the place._

  
Now, here he was. Mounting the white beauty effortlessly (seriously it gave him the feeling of home-coming) after changing into the clothes that were somewhat appropriate for horse riding since he didn’t happen to have any riding breeches and the ones Luhan had didn’t fit him.

“That was a fine mount.” Someone observed from behind which caused Sehun to turn around in his place (as much as he could while sitting on the horse), admittedly a bit shocked by the sudden appearance_._

“Oh, h-hey.” He greeted timidly (and slightly bashfully too) as soon as he saw Jongin trotting up to him with his horse, looking quite ethereal (maybe he was biased) and princely; just as handsome, mysterious (seriously, there was an air about him that the new student had no way of explaining) and cold as he always did.

The crown prince was dressed in the proper breeches, unlike him and was wearing a white dress shirt tucked into brown leather pants (he tried not to stare at his strong thighs) with an oversized coat thrown over his broad shoulders. Its lapels flapped wildly (since he hadn’t worn it properly) as the wind propelled them and sadly made his built chest stand out even more than usual. Sehun hoped he was not as obvious in his staring as he thought he was.

“I didn’t know you have a horse here,” Jongin admitted conversationally once his horse was parallel to Prince and brought his hand up to comb his fingers through his tousled hairs.

_Damn it._

Sehun was not ready for it to exude so much sensuality; it was, after all, a very common action which he normally did not find hot at all. Jongin was just so freaking beautiful. His tanned skin practically glowed under the golden hue of the sun and the way the wind wildly ruffled his hairs only made him look that much more charming.

_Get a hold of yourself, Oh Sehun._

_Stop staring and answer him!_

“I don’t. Prince is Luhan’s horse.” Sehun replied awkwardly and patted Prince’s neck which caused the horse to swing his tail happily.

“Oh, where is he?” The crown prince inquired while throwing a glance over his shoulders. They were currently the only ones there sans the stable boy.

“Back in the stables. One of his horses is sick so he couldn’t come with me like planned.”

“The riding path leads to the jungle and it is very easy to lose your way. You shouldn’t go in there alone, especially when this is your first time and you are not well acquainted with the creatures of magic.” Jongin cautioned with a frown and tightened his hold on the bridle when his horse shifted under him. Sehun was not proud of the way his eyes automatically zeroed in on the bulging veins of his hands.

“Yeah…Luhan told me that. He asked me to stay within the fenced grounds.” Sehun mumbled dejectedly before roaming his eyes around the vast green field around him which surprisingly was completely clean of any sort of the snow. It was pretty big and spacious (enough for him to enjoy his riding experience to the fullest), but he was hoping to ride through the Jungle and maybe see all those magical creatures he had only ever heard about. The new student also wanted to explore the island of Mageía (literally it meant magic), at least somewhat. He had never been acquainted with the magic world and now that he was getting a chance to experience it first hand, he didn’t want to miss it. God knows when would be the next time he would get this chance since Luhan was leaving for two months.

“You sound disappointed.” Jongin pointed out (looking a bit apathetic) and ticked a brow at him as if he wasn’t able to understand the reason behind Sehun’s sentiments; which he understood. The tanned male has always been a part of this world. There was nothing new for him to see or explore and he obviously wouldn’t understand his eagerness to do so.

“I just wanted to explore the island, you know, since I am still kind of new to the magic world or the people in general.” A look of understanding passed over Jongin’s features briefly before it morphed into something more thoughtful.

“If you want to travel the path that bad, you can come with me.” The crown prince offered flippantly (seriously, the new student was confused for a second whether he actually meant it or not because he just sounded so indifferent) and jerked his chin in the direction of the jungle.

“I was heading there as well…though I might not be your usual enjoyable company. I hardly ever ride in companionship.”

“Should I consider myself special then?” The question was out of his mouth before he can think it through. There was nothing wrong with it, seriously, he just meant it as a jest (he delivered it as such) and it wouldn’t have been a problem if it were any of his friends (even Baekhyun, Jongdae, Chanyeol and to some extent Minseok – though he was debatable since Sehun hadn’t gotten a chance to get closer to him like others – would have been fine), but Jongin was a whole other story. He was not his friend (an acquaintance at best) and they didn’t have the sort of a relationship where they made jokes with each other. Sehun was such a fucking idiot or maybe he was just over-reacting because there was something about the crown prince that put him on the edge of his seat.

Jongin’s face remained neutral (maybe a bit _too_ neutral which only made the matters worse) but there was a certain glint in his eyes that he could never begin to decipher. He would have honestly thought that the other male was mad at him for saying that if it wasn’t for his eyes; they spoke, but unfortunately in a language that Sehun couldn’t understand.

“Special,” The crown prince repeated musingly before an enigmatic smirk slowly made its way on his lips, conveniently knocking the air out of Sehun’s lungs. Jongin slowly (and quite shamelessly too) seized him up (which promptly caused Sehun to blush) before haughtily meeting his eyes with confidence which he has seldom seen.

“I think you really should.” What was Sehun even supposed to do after that other than growing humiliatingly flustered and of course, confused.

……………

  
Jongin was a very nice company contrary to what he had warned him of. Sehun didn’t get why the other male would tell him that he was not an ‘enjoyable’ person to be with when he had been anything, but boring. He wasn’t even being biased. Yeah, they didn’t talk much. There were long and frequent stretches of silence between them, but Sehun still enjoyed them. The silence with Jongin wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward like he has expected it to be (mostly attributed to his own tendency to embarrass himself), in contrast, it was pretty peaceful and serene; the kind of silence that allowed him to enjoy the beauty of nature around him. 

The crown prince was also very helpful and informative. He had effortlessly answered all of Sehun’s questions without a second of hesitation. The jungle itself was a remarkable place filled with many interesting creatures and species of plants that he has never before seen in his life. The initial path has been covered in snow (the trees and the other plants growing along the ground, small or big, have been covered with snow. Their leaves and flowers were frozen and covered with icicles which made them seem more ethereal. It was supposed to be lifeless, but for some odd reason Sehun can actually hear the life breathing beneath the thin layer of frost) though as they traveled further from the stables, the snow began to disappear. At one point it didn’t even seem like it was winter and Sehun would have believed it if it weren’t for the cold, biting wind around them. Moreover, the canopies of the trees were still painted with snow so he tacked it up to something that has to do with the magic of the place. Jongin confirmed his thoughts later on.

They have also come across a variety of animals (if he can call them that) which mostly included magically modified birds (there was one bird with red and golden wings which looked very much like a Phoenix. He was fascinated to say the least) Rabbits, Deer and Squirrels. There was a Monkey as well though he climbed away from them before Sehun could get a proper look at it. However it was a fluffy, pink-blue creature with wings who the crown prince had called Bibble (and had then proceeded to tell him that the cute, little thing was called Puffball), was the one who caught his attention the most. Needless to say, Sehun has been sold the moment Bibble flew up to Jongin (making adorable, squeaky noises) and freaking _nuzzled_ against his neck making the other male chuckle airily.

Sehun was sure that the dimple on the tanned male’s face was going to be the death of him. As if Jongin already wasn’t charming enough with his cold, indifferent personality (warm, encouraging words – though not many people got to hear them from him according to Baekhyun so he should consider himself special once again) and handsome face the dimple only made him appear more Princely.

_Kill me._

“Did you say something?” Sehun turned to face Jongin when he heard the sudden inquiry.

_Fuck. _

_Did I say that out loud?_

“N-No.” The crown prince didn’t look quite convinced by his stuttered reply, but thankfully he didn’t comment on it further. Sehun had Bibble (who has tagged along with them) to thank for that because the Puffball distracted his companion by bumping into his side with a giggle. He found himself melting all over again when Jongin swiftly reached down to catch Bibble before he fell to the ground and most probably injured himself. The Puffball seemingly undeterred proceeded to roll in his hands as if they were playing some game.

“So cute…” Jongin snapped his head up in surprise to look at him as soon as those dreadful words left his lips.

“I-I mean, Bibble is so cute.” Sehun amended hurriedly (maybe a bit panicked) after clearing his throat awkwardly and faced the front again to hide his rapidly coloring face. They were currently resting their horses at a small stream after riding for about an hour. The stream appeared still, yet it flowed under the thinnest of ice, awaiting the gentle touch of the Sun which he was sure wasn’t going to come until the harshest of the winter has passed by because the air bared only the coldness.

“Bibble, what do you have to say about that?” He heard Jongin’s casual query (he was clearly teasing. Sehun didn’t have to look at him to know that. Somehow, because the universe hated him, the other male knew that it wasn’t the Puffball who he had called cute), flushed a bit more, before slightly curling in onto to himself.

“Bibble can’t possibly understand you.” Sehun pointed out, sounding a trifle bitter, and tilted his head to the side slightly to look at Jongin who was already looking at him with an amused smile.

As if to contradict him, Bibble picked himself up from the tanned male’s hand and flew towards Sehun who was sitting on the opposite rock. A startled noise left his lips when the Puffball barreled into his face and started nuzzling against his cheek; almost like he was trying to thank him for the compliment.

“I think he understood me pretty well.” Jongin pointed out smugly before coolly pocketing his hands and walking closer to him as well.

_Shut up!_

Sehun wanted to snap at him, but he knew better than to do that so he brought his hand up to cup Bibble in his hand who gladly snuggled into his palm.

“Whatever.” The time has literally flown by. He hadn’t even realized that the Sun was now about to set which meant that they should be heading back soon before it was too dark to see the path. The crown prince hadn’t said anything about going back yet so Sehun bit his tongue and decided to stay silent. He was having too much fun to end it short so early. The thought of going back to the Academy was almost saddening by that point.

“Bibble normally doesn’t like strangers,” Jongin commented after a short moment of silence and sat down on the stone beside him. Maybe, Sehun was being too sensitive, but he was a little too close for him to be able to breathe properly without fretting over how nice his cologne smelled.

“Well, I’m honored that he likes me,” Sehun responded with a small smile and rubbed Bibble’s stomach with his finger which caused him to preen.

“He really does seem to like you,” The other male affirmed before reaching out to pet the Puffball’s head. Bibble looked like he was having the time of his life while Sehun was internally dying from how close Jongin was to him.

_Damn it, heart._

_Fucking calm down._

_No need to be so freaking loud._

“I’m not surprised though.” The crown prince continued, not appearing fazed by their close proximity at all. He didn’t even bother to look at him as he continued to stroke Bibble’s head.

“Why?” Sehun hated himself for even speaking because it indirectly prompted Jongin to raise his head and look at him straight in the eyes; both the acts were not good for his health. His sweet death was near. Sehun was sure of that, especially when the other male continued to trace his features with his eyes wordlessly before finally breaking out into a rakish smile that once again made him go breathless.

“He likes pretty things.” Sehun stopped breathing altogether as soon as he heard that (the thudding of his heart in his ears was so freaking loud that he was sure the other male can hear it easily) and searched Jongin’s face though he made no move or expression to show that he had accidentally said something wrong. Contrary to that, he actually freaking threw him a cunning smirk as if he was greatly enjoying the shocked expression on Sehun’s face (that he was sure already tinted a brilliant shade of pink) and was proud of himself.

“W-What?”

“Not that I’m saying you are a thing, but…” _‘I meant that you are pretty’_ was very much implied at the end of the sentence even if the crown prince hadn’t said it. He just shot Sehun another arrogant smirk before getting up and butting Bibble on his head with his finger.

“I know you are enjoying being cute but we need to leave now. You should head for your nest too.” Jongin urged which only caused the Puffball to snuggle further in his palm as if in protest. Sehun didn’t blame him. He wanted to do the same, but sadly he couldn’t without looking like a petulant idiot.

……………

  
The ride back to the stables was mostly silent. Both, Jongin and Sehun, were content with the peaceful silence and environment around them. Sehun, especially, enjoyed the cool breeze that hit his face (it embarrassingly made his nose red too, but let’s ignore that) and the greenery around him spotted with flowers of vibrant colors (they emitted golden dust and moved in rhythm as if they were performing a dance to the harmony that the birds were making) with occasional patches of snow was really mesmerizing. He could have really stayed in that place for his whole life without any regrets. Everything about the jungle was so magical; the magic that tugged at something inside him that he couldn’t interpret. It gave him the feeling that this was where he belonged all the time. Jongin’s company was an added bonus, no doubt.

“Why do the plants on the backside seem so dead?” Sehun inquired with a frown and craned his neck to get a proper look. When they were passing through this place before he had been way too occupied with Bibble, but now that he had his full attention on his surroundings there was no missing the dying jungle that was on the back. It nearly wrenched his heart to see such beauty dying.

“That is because they are dying,” Jongin responded grimly while shooting a brief glance towards the back as well.

“But why?” The whole place seemed so magical, fertile and alive. Why was it dying inside?

“Don’t you know?” The other male inquired solemnly before shaking his head.

“Never mind, I keep on forgetting you’re still new to this all.”

“So? I don’t see why the plants are dying. The soil here looks really fertile.” Now, Sehun was genuinely intrigued.

“You may already know this, but Mageía is the center of magic. It _is_ magic. Magic is what keeps it alive and it comes from the Tree of Life.”

“Tree of Life?” Sehun may or may not have heard about it.

“Yeah…it’s in the very core of the island and let’s just say we won’t have our powers if it isn’t for that tree.”

“Okay…so that tree is dying?” That should be the reason, right?

“More or less,” Jongin replied with a sigh and shot another grim look towards the dense forestry.

“Basically, the Jungle itself isn’t dying, but the plants and species inhibiting it are sacrificing themselves to keep the Tree of Life alive because if the tree dies the magic will die as well.”

_What is wrong with the Tree of Life?_

The crown prince seemed to have read his mind because he continued.

“I’m not sure if you know this or not, but there is a reason why the monarchy of Gardania and its safety is so important to the other Kingdoms. In every generation of royals of Gardania there is one heir with the magic of wind.” Sehun perked up as soon as he heard that.

“Magic of wind?”

“You have it, don’t you?” Jongin questioned instead of confirming.

“I don’t really have any control over it.” The new student revealed with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“That is because you haven’t trained at all.” The crown prince pointed out.

“I’m sure you’ll have great control over it once you train properly. Cherish your magic. Magic over wind is really rare. Mostly, only the royals of Gardania possess it. There are some instances of others having it too, but like I said it’s far in between.”

“Is it important to have the power over the wind to be the heir?” Sehun asked with a confused frown, not really understanding the reason why.

“Heir of Gardania? Yes.” Jongin confirmed before stopping his horse and turning to face him properly.

“With the magic of wind comes the power to yield the _golden breath of life_ that keeps the Tree of Life alive. The magic of wind may exist outside, but it is only the royal bloodline of Gardania which have the blessing of wielding golden breath. Sometimes, people call it golden dust as well. The late Queen of Gardania, Wu Qing Shan, was the last person who had the power over wind in royals though she was killed and so was her son – at least that’s what they say – who was supposed to be the ruler of the next generation.”

“He had the power over wind?”

“Yes,” The crown prince affirmed before starting forward again.

“With the Queen and the Prince dead the royal line of the Gardania is going to come to an end. It _has_ already come to an end and everybody is worried that the world of magic will crumble as well with it in due time. The island is already half-dead.”

“What about Yifan? He’s from the royal blood-line.” Sehun observed, feeling kind of depressed from the prospect of the whole situation.

“He’s not a carrier. If you have noticed, the ruler of Gardania has always been a carrier whether male or female. The magic of golden dust is passed on from carrier to carrier.” Jongin provided with a heavy sigh, almost as if talking about it all was making him gloomy. Sehun wouldn’t fault him for that.

“There is no way to save this place?”

“Unless, the lost prince somehow shows up, no.”

“Is that why the Golden Flake has been lost for the past two decades almost?” Sehun didn’t know what came over him when he asked that. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t talk or think about that stupid flake anymore.

“It could be,” Jongin replied with the shrug of his shoulders.

“Magic is after all dying. The last person to catch the flake was the Queen too.”

“W-What if it suddenly appears out of the blue?” No, he didn’t believe that his’ was the real one, but there was nothing wrong in being sure. The other male shifted his gaze away from the path to look at him with slightly narrowed eyes and an expression that Sehun wasn’t able to make out, but he nonetheless, shrugged his shoulders again with a snort after a short moment of silence.

“I don’t know…maybe nature is trying to save our kind then.” Sehun honestly wanted a more serious or solid answer. He wanted to push the other male to answer him properly, but he didn’t want to come off as too persistent or desperate in case Jongin would start suspecting something that he wasn’t even sure was true.

“So…you and Luhan came here alone?” The other male spoke up again after another short moment of silence.

“Huh?” Sehun looked up in confusion as soon as he heard that question.

“I meant to ask where Junmyeon and Yixing are.” Jongin cleared up, still, it definitely wasn’t a question that he was expecting, especially from the crown prince.

“Oh- Yixing was out with his study mates and Junmyeon was busy with his club activities. Our plan to come here for horse riding was pretty spontaneous, actually. It wasn’t exactly something planned. Luhan offered to come here when I told him I loved horse riding.” Sehun explained before furrowing his brows.

“Why do you ask?” Maybe he was wrong, but Jongin did go a bit rigid at that.

“For nothing in specific…it is just kind of new to see Luhan going out with people other than Junmyeon and Yixing. He mostly keeps to himself.”

“Being his roommate helped me get close to him then, I guess.”

“Oh.”

* * *

Luhan had been there waiting for him outside when they came back to the stables. He didn’t look particularly worried but did give him a small glare when they were within his ear-shot while claiming that he told him to stay within the fenced grounds. When Sehun had pointed out that he didn’t even look worried the other male had just revealed that the stable boy told him that he had left with Jongin and there was nothing to worry about because the crown prince of Caslera was one of the best riders at their Academy. Speaking of Jongin, the tanned male had wordlessly unmounted his horse and exchanged a few words of pleasantries with Luhan (Sehun found out that he was going to leave for his Kingdom tonight as well which for some reason made him sadder than he was supposed to be) before leaving with a small wave directed his way.

Once they were back in the room (with everyone including their sprites) Sehun had casually remarked to Luhan that he didn’t look like an introvert to him, mostly to tease him, but to his immense surprise everyone had looked at him as if he had grown an extra head. Upon being asked what had made him think that, Sehun related his conversation with Jongin to them. He still wasn’t sure why, but Yixing, Junmyeon and Luhan had exchanged looks among themselves before promptly bursting out into a wild fit of laughter. Even Kyungsoo appeared a mix between amused and disgusted. When Sehun had demanded them to explain things to him he had only gotten a ‘you’ll understand it in due time, Sehunnie’ from Junmyeon before they have continued to laugh and then later on shut down the conversation completely.

That had been almost more than three months ago though. Presently, Sehun was sitting in the library trying to stuff the history of the different Kingdoms and islands, especially Mageía into his brain because he had a test tomorrow. He had been diligently studying and if it was one thing that he was good at then it was working hard. Seriously, learning text was the least of his problems, but being busy with other things (specifically his powers) he didn’t have a lot of time to invest in the textbooks.

Sehun knew that he could do it though. He had already done it once (this was their second wave of tests and he was proud to say that he had passed every test with an A grade) and the second time around shouldn’t be any different. He wasn’t the hopeless case that he was in the start and it was basically all thanks to Yifan and Kyungsoo (Luhan was supposed to help him with etiquettes, but he left for two months so Yifan took over that as well. Sehun didn’t know why the headmaster was investing so much time and effort into him, especially his power, but he was thankful for it) who had been with him throughout this whole time.

His friends (explicitly including Baekhyun as well because the other male has been hanging around with them since Minseok, Jongdae and Jongin were all gone to their own homelands – two months were more than enough for him to grow immensely close to Baekhyun chiefly because they shared the inherent love for torturing Kyungsoo who had been extra grumpy since Chanyeol was gone with Jongin) had helped him a lot too which he was once again really thankful for.

Sehun was pulled out of his thoughts by the sudden scraping of the chair. He snapped his head up from the book he was reading to face the front where Jongin was already settling down on the chair opposite him.

_What the hell?_

The startled student eyed the stuff that the other male has placed on the table (it consisted of two books, a library card, pen, and a highlighter) before lifting his head up to stare at him again. The crown prince this time returned his gaze wordlessly and eventually raised an inquiring brow when Sehun failed to formulate any words to greet him.

“Were you saving this seat for anyone?” Jongin inquired while shifting his gaze before smoothly throwing open one of his books.

“N-No…” Sehun finally found his voice though it was another thing that he ended up sounding mortifyingly inept of doing so.

“I was just shocked to see you here.”

“I’m only a month later than others. You shouldn’t be that surprised.” The tanned male replied with a snort and picked up his pen.

“Still, I didn’t even know you were back. Baekhyun said that it will take you another fifteen days.” Sehun justified with a frown.

“Yeah, well, I got done with my task sooner,” Jongin replied with the shrug of his shoulders. It was pretty clear that he was more invested in his book (which he righteously should be because he missed about a month of his classes) and would really appreciate it if everyone leaves him alone for some time.

“I hope it went well.” Sehun decided to end their conversation on that note (apparently so did Jongin because he only nodded his head in acknowledgment) and picked up his own pen again as well. They lapsed in companionable silence for over the next hour or so before Sehun finally found the courage to look up at the other male again.

Jongin looked different. He appeared a bit more fatigued than he usually did, but there was a certain touch of contentedness to his expression that gave the indication of a job well done. He didn’t know what the crown prince has been up to, but whatever his task was – it was hard and required a lot of time and effort. Baekhyun had complained one too many times for him to count about Jongin being an ‘ungrateful best friend’ and not picking up his calls though Sehun knew that he didn’t exactly mean it.

“Was it hard?” Sehun was just as shocked as Jongin (who was finally looking at him rather than the book with a slightly confused expression) when the question just spilled past his lips without any warning.

“Was _what_ hard?” The tanned male questioned back with furrowed brows.

“Your task. You…look kind of tired.” Was it him or did Jongin’s lips really twitched?

“You were looking at me?” Nope. His lips definitely twitched.

_Fuck._

“No!” Sehun denied right away a bit too loudly for it to be acceptable in the library. He looked around with an embarrassed flush when the people from the nearby tables looked at him in irritation and bowed his head in apology before dreadfully dragging his eyes back to the prince who was for some reason looking thoroughly amused at his expense. 

“I mean, of course, not. I-It was just an observation since I wanted a break.”

“So you were observing me.” Jongin was enjoying himself way too much at the moment for his liking. Was he really this smug with everyone? Why does he always look so freaking charming while doing so?

_Ugh!_

_Can he stop smirking at me like this?_

“You are just twisting my words now.” Sehun protested defensively which only prompted the other male to grow more mischievous. He can practically see something glinting in his otherwise cold, brown irises.

“How am I twisting your words? You were the one who said that it was an observation.”

“This conversation is so beside the point,” Sehun grumbled with a burning face and averted his gaze back to his books when he found himself at a loss of words.

“I’m enjoying it,” Jongin replied breezily before letting loose a chuckle as if Sehun making a fool out of himself was really funny; maybe it was.

“But to answer your question it wasn’t something I can’t handle. My task was basically of a very diplomatic nature and I had to travel quite a lot because of it, thus the fatigue.” Still feeling a bit wounded and very much mortified from their earlier conversation, Sehun resorted to only nodding his head and mindlessly ran his finger along the edge of the paper.

“What about you? I hope things are not as hard as they were at the start.” Jongin started again after a short moment of silence startling Sehun again because he has honestly thought that the crown prince has gone back to studying.

“I’m improving?” He wasn’t sure how much was good enough so he settled for the most neutral answer. Plus, there was something about Jongin (as mentioned so many times before) – an aura around him – that intimidated him and made him act like the biggest idiot of the world. Considering that he has already been embarrassed enough, he just opted to be more careful with what he was saying.

“You don’t sound so sure.” Jongin pointed out with a crooked smile.

“I’m not a hopeless case anymore, that’s for sure.”

“I believe you on that. Kyungsoo told me you are a hard worker.” Sehun made a mental note to buy Kyungsoo the cupcakes he absolutely adores as thanks because at least he cared about his non-existent image.

“Kyungsoo is biased.” A proper laugh left Jongin’s lips this time which was kind of shocking (Sehun has never seen him letting loose like this, but then again he hasn’t been around him more than a handful of times) and equally confusing because he was sure that there was nothing funny about what he has just said. People from the nearby tables were looking at them too, but like Sehun they looked more shocked than annoyed which he thought was unfair; they looked pretty irritated when he was being loud.

“You don’t know how funny that is, especially if someone has known Kyungsoo for as long as I have,” Jongin revealed after most probably registering the confusion on his face and laced his fingers through his hairs before combing them back. It has definitely grown longer and if Sehun wasn’t wrong then maybe they were more of a brownish shade than the previous blackish one.

“Oh, you know him since childhood, right?”

“He is closer to Baekhyun, but I know him enough to tell that he isn’t the one to be biased,” Jongin replied with the shrug of his shoulders and seemed to have finally realized that he was there to study because he straightened up in his place again before turning some pages of the book he was using previously.

“You can never know, he did choose me after a long break from being a sprite.” Sehun pointed out with a small smirk and decided to focus back on his studies as well.

“Honestly, all of us are still confused over that.” Their conversation ended on that happy note. Not that Sehun minded. He really did need to study if he wants to keep up his grades and no matter how fun it was talking to Jongin that was not going to help him during the test.

* * *

Sehun didn’t know how he ended up sharing the same table with Jongin and the other guys during lunch when he was supposed to go back to his room (maybe he would have forced Junmyeon to bring something for him to eat in the room) and study some more. He did have a vague recollection though and he really should have seen it coming. Baekhyun has been spending time with them during lunch and he wasn’t about to suddenly forget all about them now that his friends were there. Nope. The shorter male has practically dragged him and Yixing (Junmyeon was spared because he wasn’t even there) out of their room to the mess.

It was okay though he didn’t mind it, what he did mind was the fact that for some reason Baekhyun pushed him down on the seat right beside Jongin who had only shaken his head at his best friend antics. The tanned male, however, didn’t look even slightly bothered by his presence next to him so Sehun tried his best to act normal and not to make a fool out of himself which to his credit worked to some extent.

Lunch from then on was actually fun. He truly had missed Jongdae and his quips (though Baekhyun was the one who missed him the most and it was so obvious in the way he almost draped himself over his boyfriend every two minutes before he was reminded by Minseok that they were in public) to some extent and it was a pleasant thing to have him back especially when Yixing joined in with his own witty remarks. Minseok and Jongin, like always, weren’t really talkative, but they did give in their inputs where it was necessary.

Their time in the mess hall was fairly peaceful until the very end. Really, Sehun was the one who (indirectly) ruined it. He was about to get up from his place to dispose of the trash when he was sharply pushed down by Kyungsoo (he appeared out of nowhere with Chanyeol) back into his seat. Sehun would have protested if his fairy didn’t look so angry.

Kyungsoo flew down the length of his upper body until he reached his waist and harshly tugged at the table cloth that was for some unknown reason tucked inside his pants. Sehun continued to stare down at the whole scene for a long dumbfounded moment before the thought that he was yet again being bullied by the other students registered in his mind.

“She wants a fucking show? I’ll give her one.” His sprite angrily muttered under his breath which honestly scared Sehun a bit.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin called out in warning, but he was conveniently ignored so Sehun thought that it was up to him to divert whatever disaster was going to happen.

“Kyungsoo, it’s okay. Nothing happened. You don’t need to do anything-” Sadly, Kyungsoo took off in a fit of rage before he could even try and convince him.

“Baekhyun! Stop him.” Sehun almost pleaded by that point though his friend only looked at him in amusement.

“You don’t need to worry about him, Sehun. Kyungsoo knows what he is doing. You guys should just relax and enjoy.”

“But-” Before the worried familiar can argue any further a loud round of gasps that came from the majority of the people in the mess stopped him. With growing feeling of dread, Sehun turned to face the chaos and sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the cake-clad face of a girl who was standing by the desert section currently fuming at his fairy because obviously that frosting was not supposed to be on her face and the cake was not supposed to be trashed beside her feet along with the paper plate.

“Oops! Didn’t see you there.” Kyungsoo deadpanned which was really ironic because _he_ was the tiny one over there not the girl. There was no way in hell, he didn’t see her.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” The girl shrieked, most probably embarrassed by the way some of the students were snickering at her.

“Maybe if you hadn’t tried to humiliate my familiar I would have perhaps seen you.” His fairy haughtily continued with a smirk and fluttered his way out of the scene when he got no other response from the culprit other than an embarrassed glare. Sehun won’t deny what he was feeling. It was actually pretty satisfying to watch her get the taste of her own medicine.

“You didn’t need to create a scene.” He reprimanded his sprite as soon as he was back by his side.

“What scene? It was just an accident.”

“I would have believed you if I hadn’t known you.” And that was that because Kyungsoo gave him no other response except for a conceited grin.

* * *

“Sehun, tell us a little about yourself.” That demand was unexpected and came out of the blue. Sehun who was paying his due attention to the food lifted his head up with a confused frown and ticked a brow at Minseok. He would have thought that it was a joke if it came from Baekhyun, Jongdae, Junmyeon or Luhan, but he knew Minseok wasn’t the one to joke around like that.

“About myself?” He repeated unintelligently which incited the elder male to nod his head with an amused smile.

“Yeah, about you.”

“What do you want to know about me?” Sehun continued in an unsure manner and shifted a little in his place self-consciously when Jongin (sitting right in front of him) completely turned to face him too.

They were currently sitting in Jongdae’s dorm room (which he had all to himself because he was a privileged crown prince like that) because the mess hall had been way too crowded. Yixing and Minseok have complained about attaining a headache from the whole noise just when Sehun arrived there with Jongdae (they had their poise class together) and the latter has at once proposed to move to his room. Since no one had any objection with that (especially not Sehun, he likes to stay out of mess hall as much as he can) they followed through with the plan.

“I don’t know. Anything you think is worth sharing.” Minseok responded with the shrug of his shoulders. By that point, everyone has dropped their respective conversations and were focusing solely on him which kind of made him nervous.

“That is actually a very good idea. It’s almost been four months since we met and we hardly know anything about you.” Yixing supported and shifted closer to him.

“There is nothing worth telling.” Sehun started, trying his best to evade the question because – _what_ even was he supposed to tell?

“That can’t be true. You’re putting yourself down like this.” Jongdae protested with a frown and jabbed his leg with a toe.

“If it is any help you can start by telling us your secret…you know, like why you smell so much like a baby.” Yixing came to his aid which Sehun really hoped he hadn’t.

“Yixing!” He protested right away with a flaring face and pushed his friend’s hands away when he attempted to pacify him by wrapping them around him.

“I _do not_ smell like a baby.”

“But you do,” Luhan added in with a sly smirk which caused the alarm bells to ring in his head.

“How do you know that?” Baekhyun inquired (while suddenly perking up in his place) with a sneaky smirk of his own.

_They are up to something._

_I can smell it._

“Sehun likes to cuddle a lot. He randomly demands cuddles from us. Luhan seems to be his favorite one.” Junmyeon added in helpfully which made Sehun swat at him with a mortified expression.

_That is not true!_

What bullshit was he spouting? Yeah, he demands cuddles but whenever Luhan became his favorite one? If he had to choose his favorite then it would be Yixing because the other male is really warm and gentle.

“I don’t-”

“See. That’s why I know he smells like a baby.” Luhan concluded smugly and for some very odd reason, he was looking straight at Jongin, as if he was waiting for something. Whatever he was looking for must have been there because a pleased grin soon took over his lips. Jongin, on the other hand, wasn’t even looking back at him. He was more interested in his mobile than the people talking around him or at least, that was what it looked like. Sehun was honestly a bit lost. What had Luhan been grinning at like that? He clearly can’t see anything out of the norm.

“Okay, guys, I think that is enough discussion about how Sehun smells.” Minseok settled everyone down with an entertained chuckle (what was the joke even because Sehun wasn’t clearly getting it and Jongin apparently wasn’t enjoying it) and turned to face him again.

“Now, whatever _you_ want to tell.”

“Umm…I’ll be nineteen in about two weeks?” Sehun began, uncertainly, but he pushed forward because anything was better than whatever they were talking about at the moment.

“Your birthday is coming up?” Baekhyun turned to him with an excited beam.

“When is it?”

“18th December.” A small moment of silence followed after his reply which made Sehun feel even more uncomfortable then he originally was.

“So…you are a winter child.” Yixing was the one to break the silence and Sehun jumped on it because the sudden heavy hush was beginning to ruffle him.

“Not really. I don’t know when my real birthday is. I’m adopted. My parents found me abandoned and decided to make the day they found me, my birthday.” Another moment of awkward silence before Jongdae let out a disbelieving snort.

“You…” He started, but then shook his head as if the idea that came to his mind was too wild.

_Can Kyungsoo just come in and tell me that I’m needed somewhere?_

“You know the late Queen of Gardenia died on the 18th of December too,” Baekhyun informed with narrowed eyes as if he was trying to comprehend something really hard.

“Prince Shixun got lost on that day as well. You even have the magic of wind-”

“Oh God! Stop right there.” Sehun interrupted him with an incredulous laugh.

“I’m not the prince. It is just a coincidence.”

“A coincidence too rare.” Baekhyun snapped at him right away, but a moment later he seemed to have realized what he has done and shot him an apologetic smile.

“I am not saying that you are the prince. That is…that almost sounds like a miracle.” He clarified a bit reluctantly before shaking his head.

“It is just now that I’m looking at you in this light you frightfully resemble my late uncle, Yonseok.” That piece of information appeared to have rattled everyone inside the room because dead silence prevailed the sphere around them for the next minute or so.

“I’m not the prince. That is impossible.” Sehun asserted his opinion once again, this time more forcefully.

“But-”

“Seriously, my parents belonged to a poor neighborhood. What was the Queen even doing there? Think about it yourself. It’s absurd.” Baekhyun didn’t seem pleased by the way he was cut off, but he did look like he was putting some thought into what Sehun has said.

“I guess, you are right.” He finally relented and sank back in his place.

“It would have been nice if you were though.” Sehun let out a playful snort at that and nudged Baekhyun’s leg with his arm.

“More for me than you.” He joked which finally pulled a small round of chuckles from everyone; lightening up the atmosphere once again. Baekhyun reached out to wrap an arm around his neck and friskily pulled him back.

“Yeah, yeah, now continue.”

“Isn’t this enough?” Sehun tried to bargain, but the tick of the brow that he got as a response from Minseok again told him it was definitely not enough.

“What else should I tell you?”

“Anything,” Jongdae replied with a serene smile which caused Sehun to scowl at him.

“I worked as a waiter at the café, but you guys know that already. I have this feisty best friend. Her name is Jisoo and honestly, Kyungsoo reminds me a lot of her.”

“No wonder you handle Kyungsoo so well,” Jongin commented nonchalantly from his place which earned him another round of chuckles from the others.

“Kyungsoo is adorable. You shouldn’t make fun of him like that.” Sehun defended his sprite though he couldn’t stop the smile that was threatening to spill past his face.

“We all know I’m not making fun of him.” The tanned male claimed confidently before finally looking up from his phone.

“Oh, well,” Sehun waved the matter off and averted his gaze (Jongin really should warn him before making those sudden eye contacts) which only caused the crown prince to look at him in amusement.

“Move on.” Jongdae prompted when he noticed that Sehun wasn’t planning on going ahead making the said male whine.

“I don’t have anything else to say.”

“You ought to. Come on, something interesting about yourself. Something you can do, but we can’t or the other way around.” Luhan egged on and straightened up in his place.

“I can’t…tell apart carriers or non-carriers like you guys can?” That should be interesting enough.

“Kyungsoo told me that. Haven’t Yifan trained you on it yet?” Baekhyun questioned with a small smile.

“He told me that we can work on it later.” Sehun was pretty much bummed about that. He wanted to be able to tell people’s gender like any other magic wielder. Not being able to do that made him stick out like a sore thumb (at least in his point of view) so he has mostly kept that information from others.

“So you still can’t tell whether I am a carrier or not?” Yixing inquired, appearing quite intrigued.

“Not until I see your mark.”

“You haven’t seen any of our marks yet though since we have been wearing blazers and sweaters,” Jongdae observed with a scheming smirk which made Sehun a bit hesitant when he agreed.

“Yeah…”

“Try to guess then!” Baekhyun encouraged with an enthusiastic grin.

“I think you are making Sehun uncomfortable, Baekhyun.” Minseok rebuked, but Baekhyun isn’t the one to give up.

“But we made Junmyeon do the same thing back when he was still new. Let Sehun do it too.” Jongdae came to support his boyfriend.

“Sehun, come on. Who do you think is a carrier between me and Baekhyun?” Sehun eyed the couple wearily before shaking his head.

“I don’t know.” How was he even supposed to tell? It’s not like he has been around his kind all this while and knew what attributes distinguished the two genders.

“Guess it. At least try. I promise it is fun. You should try guessing from personalities.” Junmyeon pushed him with a sly smirk. He has done this before and he knew how much fun it could be; especially between Baekhyun and Jongdae.

“Personality-wise…” Sehun started reluctantly and carefully eyed Baekhyun before doing the same to Jongdae.

“I think Jongdae is a carrier.” Baekhyun burst out into the peal of laughter.

“Sehun! Baekhyun is the carrier.” Jongdae whined which only impelled Sehun to shrug.

“Okay, moving on. What do you think about Yixing and Luhan?” Junmyeon, who was more invested in the guessing game than others, urged him to move forward.

“I have seen their marks. Yixing is a carrier and Luhan is not.” Sehun replied easily because at least this one he was sure of.

“Bummer,” Jongdae muttered bitterly.

“Minseok and Jongin. Guess.” Sehun briefly caught Jongin’s gaze before the other male was looking down on his phone again.

“I don’t think any of them is a carrier.” If he was to judge from personalities Minseok and Jongin were the only ones who he was sure of.

“Nobody ever gets them wrong.” Baekhyun pointed out with a snort.

“But everybody gets _me_ wrong,” Jongdae grumbled with a sour expression.

“I didn’t mean to,” Sehun tried to pacify his friend with a small smile.

“I am really new to this whole thing and…well, to tell you the truth, I found out I was a carrier in the senior year of high school.”

“That makes it about only two years ago. You found out you were a carrier when you were _sixteen_?” Sehun may or may not relate to the incredulousness in Jongdae’s tone.

“My mother didn’t have any sort of knowledge of our kind and the internet didn’t have a lot of information as well. I mean, maybe if I had searched about it specifically it might have shown up, but you see, the problem lies in the fact that the possibility never crossed my mind. I didn’t even know ‘carriers’ were a thing.” Sehun tried his best to make them see the whole thing in his point of view, but Baekhyun still looked like he has been socked.

“Don’t look so shocked.” He jested and nudged the other male’s leg with his elbow again.

“I’m not.” Baekhyun was quick to refute and then he climbed down the couch to sit on the floor right in front of him.

“So you thought all this time you were a-”

“No.” Sehun was quick to cut him off.

“I just thought that I was a _boy._ I told you, I didn’t know about the gender classification of the magic folk. I was raised as a human and by a human. Humans only have two genders, male and female. I obviously thought I was a male.”

“What was your reaction?” Jongdae inquired curiously from his place.

“I mean, wasn’t it weird? I can only imagine living my whole life as a non-carrier and suddenly someone tells me that I belong to the opposite gender.”

“It wasn’t pleasant and to be honest, it still sounds so _weird,_” Sehun replied with a wince. He wasn’t really comfortable talking about him being a carrier.

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I grew up in a society where males should not be able to…to you know…and suddenly knowing that I can was atrocious! At that time, it really felt like I was having an identity crisis and then my mother was so lost as well which only made me feel worst.”

“That sounds awful.” Baekhyun sympathized and sat back.

“I am not surprised that you didn’t find out sooner. Our kind tends to be really secretive.”

“Yeah, that didn’t play well in my favor.” Sehun agreed with the shrug of his shoulders. For some reason, his eyes trailed up to seek Jongin (maybe he wanted to see the crown prince’s reaction the most) who had by then discarded his phone and was staring right back at him. Like others, he didn’t look shocked or sympathetic (which Sehun was honestly thankful for), instead there was some sort of understanding on his face which put him at ease almost immediately.

“Are you still not comfortable about being a carrier then?” Minseok’s question propelled him to break eye contact with Jongin. The eldest male’s eyes for a second diverted towards Jongin before they shifted back to Sehun again.

“I never really put a lot of thought into it.” He replied honestly.

“I don’t find it terrible anymore. That is who I am and I should accept it. I do accept it to some extent, but…”

“But?” Yixing urged looking a bit concerned. It made Sehun feel guilty without any proper reason.

“I-I have nothing against carriers. I told you not to get me wrong.” He asserted which seemed to have stunned Yixing because he blinked his eyes blankly at him for a second before firmly shaking his head.

“No, of course not, Sehun. I’m not thinking anything of the sort. I was worried about you. The fact that you can’t completely accept it, might harm you in the future.”

“It is not like I don’t want to accept it, but how can I relate to something when I don’t even know anything about it. All I know is that I’m able to c-conceive with the people of my kind and they can sense my gender. I have this mark on my neck to represent it too. That is all about it.” That was the most frustrating part of the whole situation. He didn’t know a single thing about his own biology while everyone else of his kind did. Others knew more about him than he, himself, did.

“Well, that is all very basic,” Baekhyun observed with a frown though he brightened up a second later.

“You don’t have to worry. Yixing and I can tell you all about it.”

“When we are alone,” Sehun added in fear the shorter male would start rumbling about embarrassing facts in front of everyone. Baekhyun looked somewhat confused for a second before he finally understood and a sly smile took over his features.

“Of course, Sehunnie.” He agreed with a serene smile before shooting a mischievous glance towards Jongin. The crown prince stared at his best friend impassively for a moment before something seemed to have crossed his mind. Baekhyun’s sly smile turned into a full-blown cunning smirk when he caught Jongin glaring at him in a warning. Sadly, when was he ever deterred before?

“Now…tell me if you know anything about _our male_ biology here.” Sehun flushed in embarrassment as soon as he noticed that the shorter male was gesturing straight towards Jongin and the rest of the guys were trying their best to suppress the laughter that was threatening to fill the sphere around them.

_I’m going to ask Kyungsoo to kill him._

“Stop it, Baekhyun.” The embarrassed male glowered (he couldn’t even look at Jongin anymore. It was so mortifying) and pushed his friend way in hopes of shutting him up.

“It is really not that different-”

“I don’t want to know, shut up.”

“Aww, but Sehunnie you should know what’s going inside-” Baekhyun really didn’t know when to stop. Sehun was no virgin, but even then what his friend was saying felt way too vulgar, specifically in front of the object of his affections.

“I’m going to call _Kyungsoo_.” He seethed with a scowl because what else was he supposed to do?

“Actually,” Luhan started with a roughish smile and scooted to the edge of his seat. Sehun did not like how entertained the rest of his friends looked. This was terrible. He wanted to run out of the room.

“_Don’t._”

“Baekhyun is right.” His roommate continued, completely unfazed by his warning.

“I mean, maybe before this, you didn’t have any reason to be informed about it since you moved among humans and never really came across a magic wielder, but now you live among us and well…”

“I’m leaving. I have class in about ten minutes.” Those were just not empty words because Sehun did stand up in his place and shouldered his bag much to the amusement of his companions.

“Think about it Sehun. Someone might be interested in you or you might be interested in someone-”

_“Bye!”_

* * *

Maybe it was a tad bit dramatic, but Sehun gave them all the cold shoulder for the rest of the day, especially Baekhyun and Luhan. It didn’t seem to have any dire effect though (most probably because they knew he wasn’t being serious) other than amusing his friends even more. He wasn’t exactly pleased by that prospect, but there was nothing he could do about it. By the time, he was walking back from his last class of the day to his dorm room he had forgotten all about the previous embarrassment (not really) and didn’t have enough energy to keep Baekhyun from entering the room who tagged along with Yixing. He also wasn’t ready for the mortifying conversation that followed their arrival, but at least no one else was in the room to hear it.

Baekhyun apparently knew _a lot_ about both, the carrier biology (which wasn’t that surprising) and the non-carrier biology (_‘I have a boyfriend’_ he had told him proudly when Sehun had sputtered out in a bashful manner) which the tired male honestly wished that his friend could have kept to himself because now he can’t stop thinking about it.

The first thing that Yixing cleared up was that they had gender classification of males and females just like humans, but the more major one was the distinction between carriers and non-carriers; so being a carrier didn’t mean he was not a boy. It was honestly quite relieving to know that even when he had already known that fact; confirmation never hurts.

Yixing also told him that their kind mated instead of getting married (marriage was just a formality they adopted from humans) and usually a couple was bonded for life (some magical thing that he didn’t get) except for some rare cases where a magic wielder married a human. It was the most fascinating thing that Sehun has ever heard (he was a big romantic at heart) and he made the mistake of asking about how the mating process worked. Baekhyun had given him the sleaziest grin as a response, which had been the answer enough for him, before proceeding to explain in _detail_ how it all worked out. Asking that question was the worst mistake of his life.

Moving on, carriers, according to Baekhyun, were quite similar to the female counterpart of the human race except for the fact that they necessarily didn’t have the voluminous breasts (at least in males) and they didn’t have menstruation cycles which Sehun was really thankful for. Another detail (that he was sure wasn’t that necessary to tell) was the fact that their bodies (Baekhyun had used a very explicit word) were genetically modified to accept penetration.

Carriers also start experiencing heat (Baekhyun outwardly laughed at the horror on his face once he had been explained what _heat_ actually meant) once they are at the age of conception. It isn’t important for the reproduction process but always had been a part of their kind’s life. Well, at least it had been until the magic of the Tree of life (it had something to do with the promotion of the proliferation of life) started dying. Should he be thankful for that as well, remained a question.

Non-carriers on their part too were quite similar to human male’s anatomy though there were some considerable differences when it comes to their unbeaten stamina and…well, generally being more blessed in regard of their reproductive parts. Thankfully, Sehun had been successful in not allowing Baekhyun to dwell on that fact longer than necessary lest he should mention Jongin. Yixing had given him a grateful smile which had made him feel accomplished for a second, but it had all been ruined when Baekhyun has asked him whether they should discuss Jongin’s anatomy separately or not because if he ever wants to be with him Sehun should be thoroughly prepared for what he packs. Yixing wasn’t the one for violence, but Sehun still appreciated his effort when he smacked Baekhyun on his face with the pillow.

  
“It is getting late. You shouldn’t be here alone.” Sehun, who was lost in his thoughts, whirled around when he heard the sudden advice.

“I-I wanted to be alone for some time.” He responded hesitantly once his brain registered that it was Jongin.

“Is it because of what happened in the sword practice?” The crown prince inquired while stepping closer to him.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sehun claimed sulkily (still feeling wounded and humiliated over what has happened earlier in the day) before picking up a stone and throwing it into the stream. It really had been his worst day at the Academy so far.

“Baekhyun was really sorry about it.” Sehun wanted to protest that Baekhyun being sorry wasn’t going to lessen the pain and humiliation he has felt during the class by his father, but then it occurred to him just how unfair it would be because it was not Baekhyun’s fault that his father was an asshole. He was the bigger victim over there and was most probably beating himself up for something he couldn’t have controlled.

“He has nothing to be sorry about. It’s not his fault that Mr. Byun is an asshole.” Sehun honestly still didn’t get the whole situation. He still wasn’t sure what has exactly gone wrong.

Today, the first year and the fourth year students’ (which meant Jongin, Luhan, and Yixing was there) sword practice class has been assembled because Mr. Byun was back at the academy (for the coronation ceremony that was going to be held at the end of the first semester which was in about three weeks’ time) and wished to take at least one class while he was there. It wasn’t really a class since there were too many students and not enough space. Mr. Byun has spent majority of the time talking about how much he missed teaching at the academy, but _sadly_ he has to leave because Baekhyun (who was also there for some reason) was going to be the crown prince soon and it wouldn’t reflect well on his title if his father served as a mere teacher. Kyungsoo has muttered an extreme profanity under his breath before angrily flying out the class because –

_‘I can’t bear with his bullshit to save my life.’_

Nonetheless, things have proceeded peacefully from then on. Sehun has immediately sought his friends’ company and Baekhyun had joined them once his father has gotten busy with others. It was actually fun to have so much free time during a class in which Sehun usually had to struggle because he still wasn’t very good with the sword. They were having a good time and none of them had noticed Mr. Byun approaching. The elder man had been amiable while the others exchanged pleasantries with him. However, when it was Sehun’s turn it seemed like someone had struck him with the lightning. He had no clue why Mr. Byun was so shocked to see him; the shock that has soon morphed into a barely concealed rage that had sent shivers down his spine.

His nightmare had begun from then on. Mr. Byun for some reason purposely singled him out and wished to see his skills. Jongin has politely tried to stop him (because _why_ only him), but hasn’t been very successful. It was quite obvious then that his friends have picked up on Mr. Byun’s hostility towards him though they had been equally confused when it came to deciphering the reason.

Sehun had mustered up all the courage he could and have assured the guys that it would be fine before taking the sword. He had really tried his best. He had tried to remember all the lessons from Yifan and has tried to make his moves sharp and clean. Now, that he thinks back he was quite successful in doing so. Yixing had given him a thumbs up at the end too, but apparently it wasn’t up to Mr. Byun’s par because he started humiliating Sehun right there in front of hundreds of students who took sadistic delight in his degradation. Baekhyun had jumped in almost immediately, but he was silenced by his father.

Sehun wasn’t the one to be fazed so easily, but Baekhyun’s father has proceeded to call him useless and a disgrace to the institute. He has vehemently claimed that he would get Sehun expelled from the academy because they didn’t need the _‘garbage’_ of the poor in their prestigious academy and called him with other racy names that still burned his ear in mortification when he thinks about them. Sehun has never felt so debased before and it had taken everything in him to keep the tears that were burning his eyes at bay.

  
“He still thinks that it was his fault. After all, it was his father-.” Jongin’s consolation once again brought him out of his thoughts though it didn’t make him feel any better and Sehun couldn’t stop himself from cutting the other male off.

“Well, I’m sorry that he is feeling that way. I would have changed it if I could.” He didn’t mean to be so curt, but he was already so irritated upon the prospect of being humiliated without any proper reason. Jongin going on and on about how Baekhyun felt at that moment wasn’t helping his case because no matter what, _he_ was the one who was shamed.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” The crown prince clarified right away.

“You just ran out of the class and no one has seen you since then. You missed all the classes. Everybody was really worried about you and it had just made Baekhyun feel guiltier.”

“You see, Jongin,” Sehun pronounced with thinly veiled irritation.

“I don’t have conscience big enough to be worried about what Baekhyun feels at the moment when I feel like-” He broke off in the middle of his sentence the second he noticed just how thick his voice has gotten and squeezed his eyes shut before swallowing the bile that has risen up his throat.

“That was not what I was trying to say.” Jongin elucidated once again with a sigh. It was enough to make Sehun realize that he was being excessively rude and taking his anger out on the wrong people.

“I am sorry, that sounded horribly selfish. I didn’t mean it.” He started weakly after a tense moment of silence passed between them.

“I-I don’t blame him for anything. Baekhyun has been nothing, but nice to me all this time. I have no reason to hate him. Please, convey it to him for me. I’ll talk to him myself once I have…just give me some time.”

“I think,” Jongin spoke up after a moment of contemplation (which to Sehun’s fortune this time wasn’t as tense as the previous one) and carefully sat down beside him; completely discarding his earlier rude behavior or his apology.

“Baekhyun has a lot of people to take care of him at the moment.”

“Yeah, but he would need his best friend.” Sehun pointed out and picked up another rock to throw in the stream.

“He has a boyfriend.” The other male replied with the shrug of his shoulders.

“So are you going to sit here with me doing nothing while I sulk?” The upset male challenged which made the crown prince snort.

“We are talking. That’s doing something.” A small chuckle involuntarily left Sehun’s lips despite all the negativity coursing through his system at the moment. It seemed to be what Jongin was aiming at because he instantly turned his face to the side to look at him with a small smile. Sehun stared back at him wordlessly for a long second too (Jongin just looked so enchanting under the silver glow of the moonlight) before turning towards the stream again.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Bibble came to get me.” The crown prince revealed and tilted his head upwards. Sehun followed his example and laughed at the Puffball who was floating in the air right above their heads looking as proud as he could.

“Thanks.” Jongin turned to face him again as soon as Sehun had timidly expressed his gratitude.

“For what?”

“For coming to get me.”

“You do know whatever Mr. Byun had said wasn’t true, Sehun. You are better than many others. You are a hard worker and one of the best students in the majority of the courses. I don’t know why Mr. Byun unreasonably censured you like that, but all his claims were groundless.” Jongin stressed with a frown.

“I do know it now,” Sehun responded with a crooked smile which made the other male shake his head.

“You should have known it before.”

“Are we going to argue over it now?”

“If you want to.” The crown prince passed over with a nonchalant shrug.

“No thanks. I think I have seen enough drama for the day.”

“Then we should head back to the academy. It’s almost curfew time.” Jongin suggested before getting up and dusting his clothes. Sehun remained seated in his place and watched in silence as the other male carefully jumped over the fallen log and tried to steady himself on the slippery rock though he was pretty unsuccessful in doing so because one of his feet slipped. Jongin would have most probably fallen face first in the stream (God knows what would have happened then – he didn’t really want to wait and see) if Sehun hadn’t at once reached out for his powers in a panic to keep him upright.

“Woah~ are you alright?” Sehun inquired once it was obvious that Jongin was safe and steady.

“Yeah…the surface was more slippery than I thought.” The other male replied in a faintly distracted manner before shaking his head with a small chuckle.

“Thanks. I wasn’t really in the mood of taking a bath in the stream today.”

“It wouldn’t have been that bad-” Bibble’s loud and insistent squeaking cut Sehun off in the middle of his sentence.

“What’s wrong Bibble?” Jongin inquired with a confused frown when the Puffball adamantly barreled into his chest head first. Bibble, sadly didn’t give an answer to that (he possibly couldn’t speak in their language) and continued squeaking; his volume increasing by each passing second making both of them worried. At last, looking a bit tired and (if Sehun wasn’t wrong) irritated, the Puffball twirled around Jongin’s body which caused them to follow his suit. Sehun stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he realized what Bibble was actually trying to show them. Jongin, next to him, seemed to have the same reaction, though he was pretty sure he heard the crown prince taking a sharp intake of breath.

_Golden._

The small patch of the forest behind Jongin was emitting a soft golden gleam which made it appear ethereal. Sehun couldn’t take his eyes away from the beautiful sight in front of him and the same seemed to be the case with Jongin as well because he remained unspeaking and unmoving. Golden dust, a bit faded, was still floating in the air above the small patch; the glinting particles occasionally clung to the slowly dying forestry and breathed life back into it right in front of their eyes. Sehun was breathless from the captivating spectacle. He watched on in a mesmerized state of calm as the crouching and bending stocks of the plants started rising (as if strength has been fed to them all of a sudden), sprouting buds at their shoot tip and eventually blooming into brilliant white flowers that gave of an extremely pleasant aroma. Silver nectar slowly dripped off the petals to the ground making the fertile land glow before new shoots started germinating from the ground. Everything looked like it was bathing in the golden dust which Sehun wasn’t at ready to admit that it came from him.

_This is not possible._

Bibble, completely oblivious to their shock let loose an adorable giggle before he was nuzzling against Sehun’s cheek; like he was trying to prove his previous thought wrong.

“We need to find Yifan or at the very best Kyungsoo.” Jongin disturbed the dreadful hush prevailing around them.

“I-I…there is some mistake.” By that point, Sehun was almost desperate. If accepting his own reality as a carrier was difficult this was on the whole other level. It came with serious implications, responsibilities, and burdens that he had never ever thought about facing.

“There is no mistake, Sehun.” The crown prince countered in that no-nonsense tone of his’ (that he usually uses while he is talking to Baekhyun) though he himself still looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Kyungsoo would know what to do. Let’s go.”

* * *

Jongin didn’t make Sehun run or walk back to the castle-like he had expected. Nope, he freaking teleported them back to the academy like it was the most normal thing in the world to appear in the middle of the hallway like it was nothing. Sadly, Sehun didn’t get to protest or even make a remark on it because he was soon being pulled towards Yifan’s office. The headmaster on his part didn’t look one bit surprised when Jongin recounted the whole incident in the forest, contrary to that he looked rather resigned. It was no rocket science to concur that he already _knew_ who Sehun was. That’s why he has been training him so hard.

From the looks of it, he was also sure that his fairy knew about his identity all along too. He finally knew why Kyungsoo choosed him out of all the students. It was because he had promised the Queen he would take care of the Prince. _Sehun was the prince_ and the sprite knew it all along. A bitter sense of betrayal coursed through his system though he wasn’t given a lot of time to ponder over it.

_What Baekhyun said makes so much sense now…_

That was the most prominent thought in his otherwise very chaotic mind.

Jongin wasn’t allowed to stay in the office for too long even though he looked quite reluctant when was told to leave. Sehun honestly, didn’t want him to go as well because at that moment he served as some kind of an anchor; he didn’t know why, but maybe it was because the other male was the one who went through the firsthand experience with him. However, Yifan didn’t really care about what they wanted (maybe he would have if they had _told_ him) and Jongin was sent away with the explicit instructions to get Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo had looked as weary as he could when he flew inside the office (Jongin must have told him about what had happened) and has absolutely refused to meet Sehun’s eye even when the familiar has tried his best to catch his attention. It was a messy blur from then on. Yifan explained the things to him; starting from how they didn’t know anything about him until they saw his picture after he was announced as the lottery winner because like Baekhyun has claimed he frightfully resembled the late King – his father.

Other than his resemblance to his father there was also his legal records which stated that he was adopted and with his date of birth being the same day as the Queen died, they have done the quick calculations and have deduced that he could be the lost prince they have been looking for all this time; especially after the headmaster had seen the marks on his neck that gave away the fact that he has the magic of wind; him being a carrier only confirmed their suspicions further.

There were some other discussions and questions here and there, but their meeting concluded soon when Yifan told them to go back to the dorms and _not_ tell anyone about it. Kyungsoo was fast to inform him that Jongin has told him about what had happened on his insistence while he was with the others which meant that all his friends now knew that he was the lost prince. Sehun didn’t know what to feel about it. Yifan wasn’t happy, but he was still firm in insisting that Baekhyun’s father should not know about him at any cost.

That has confused Sehun so much that he has forgotten all about being angry at his fairy and have launched into the series of questions that Kyungsoo was happy to answer. Turns out, they were almost 100% sure that Mr. Byun was the one behind the accident that ruined the royal family of the Gardania forever. He, of course, did it under the influence of his lust for the throne without any regard to the damage that it will cause to their race altogether. Upon asking why they hadn’t done anything about it then, Kyungsoo sorely informed him that the man was sly and clever. He hadn’t left any proof or trace that can be used against him. That was the very reason why no one was ever able to charge him with his wife’s death as well – there was no freaking proof. Mr. Byun was an absolute cockroach and he would do anything to have the throne that is why Sehun was supposed to be extremely careful.

_That’s why he blew up like a fuse when he saw me._

Kyungsoo has also proceeded to apologize for hiding the truth from him, but the sprite has assured that he wasn’t lying when he told him that he felt a connection with him. That, along with just how guilty and sincere the fairy looked, had been enough to melt Sehun’s heart who was then quick to wave the whole thing off. Next, they have bumped into Baekhyun (the shorter male actually came seeking him and it appeared like he had been crying just by looking at his puffy eyes) who had hugged him in relief and have apologized for what his father has done about thousand times. Sehun had tried his best to assure him that it was okay and he didn’t blame him, but Baekhyun has refused to take his word for it until Kyungsoo has threatened to jinx his ass with his magic. Sehun still can’t believe it had worked because nobody can stop Baekhyun from talking – Kyungsoo was an exception apparently.

Realizing that there was no use in apologizing anymore, Baekhyun has excitedly proceeded to congratulate him and gave him an even tighter hug because-

_“That means we are cousins, Sehunnie!”_

Sehun hoped the half-assed smile that he gave in return was half as enthusiastic as Baekhyun’s bright grin. Despite all his hopes, the shorter male has sadly noticed his lack of zeal and gave him a sulky pout before demanding whether he was not happy to have him as a blood relation. Sehun has been quick to console him. It wasn’t Baekhyun. He was actually excited to find about his real parents and blood relations (he has always wanted to know the people who he truly belonged with) now that the initial trepidation was wearing off, but still the sudden looming threat of foreign responsibilities scared him and then there was his _uncle_ as well who wanted him dead. 

“Sehunnie~ what are you thinking?” Baekhyun has been glued to his side ever since he had found out that they were quite literally brothers in a sense because he has always wanted a sibling so bad. His cousin was just a big-hearted person who has too much love to give. Sehun can’t help, but be endeared. Jongdae had even playfully claimed that he was starting to get jealous of Sehun though it was quite apparent from his tone that he was joking.

“Nothing…I just still can’t believe I’m the lost prince.”

“Start believing it.” Baekhyun responded with a snort and turned over to lay on his belly. They were currently in Sehun’s dorm room lazing around because the rest of their friends were busy with classes.

“Hasn’t it already been a week?” It has been a week, but it didn’t feel like it. They have celebrated his nineteenth birthday just two days ago though Sehun wasn’t properly able to enjoy it because (1) he was still not over the shock that was the result of the sudden reveal of his identity and (2) Jongin wasn’t there. The second one was a very irrational reason, but he just couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t met Jongin even once after he had left the office (Minseok told him that the King of Caslera was in Gardania for some business and Jongin was to accompany him) and that fact affected him more than it should.

Sehun was no kid. He knew that his crush on Jongin has morphed into something a lot more serious over the course of the semester and he should be alarmed over his rapidly growing feelings towards the crown prince, but what can he even do about it? There was nothing about Jongin that he hated and somewhere between the ridiculous accidents and sweet horseback rides he has unconsciously given his heart to the cold prince of the Royal Charm Academy. It was another problem that the thought of whether Jongin returned those feelings or not made him feel restless at night.

Nevertheless, it was a concern for later (most probably he wasn’t going to do anything about it until he had been given the title) because right now there were more urgent matters at hand like the fact that there were only two weeks left until the coronation ceremony; the ceremony where Sehun is supposed to claim his heritage in front of every one according to Yifan’s instructions. The headmaster has been a pretty responsible and dare he says fatherly figure in his life. He was good to him throughout all this time, but after knowing that he was his mother’s brother (which made him his uncle as well), Sehun has started seeing Yifan in a new light.

Yifan was a very warm person once you get to know him. He knows what he is doing, knows when to be strict and when to be lenient. He indulges Sehun’s silly acts and questions now and then, but reprimand him where the scolding is due. He has also helped him a lot in accepting his new role which Sehun was really grateful for.

“You have zoned out again,” Baekhyun complained with a frown and swatted at his leg. Sehun in retaliation swatted at his back and picked up a pillow to hug it.

“I haven’t. I was just thinking. The coronation ceremony is in two weeks. How do you think your father will react?”

“He’ll go bat-shit crazy, okay?” The shorter male informed with snivel before snatching up the free pillow to place it under his head.

“I am sure, he’ll kill me once he knows that I helped Yifan in this whole thing.”

“That isn’t reassuring.” Sehun pointed out with a grimace and leaned back with a sigh.

“Weren’t you planning on running away with Jongdae?”

“There is no need to anymore. I won’t be titled as the crown prince now that they have the true heir. Running away was only an option when nothing else could have helped us. Besides, if I am there to be crowned my father would be less suspicious and busier just until you reveal your identity.”

“That makes sense.” Sehun conceded with yet another sigh.

“Don’t sound so sad.” Baekhyun like always immediately picked up on the fact that he was feeling low at the moment.

“What are you feeling so pressured for? You have more than four years before you graduate from the academy, Sehun. It would be enough time for you to learn how to run the Kingdom properly. Then there is Yifan, Kyungsoo and all of us as well. We will help you get the hang of it.”

“I’m just scared.” Sehun voiced his worries out though he couldn’t stop the smile that dominated his lips. Baekhyun was always so nice to talk to.

“Trust me you are so hardworking, honest and kind. I’m sure Gardania can’t have a better ruler than you.”

“Now, you’re just buttering me up.” The prince observed with a snort which made the shorter male smile brightly.

“Well, you can’t blame me. I have to keep good relations with the future King.” Baekhyun justified with the shrug of his shoulders before his smile turned into something more suggestive.

“Plus, look at the brighter side.” Sehun didn’t know what his cousin was just about to say, but he had a feeling that it was going to be something that would embarrass him.

“I don’t want to know. Don’t say it.”

“Aww~ come on, Sehunnie. I was just going to say that since you are our lost prince Shixun it means that you are the betrothed of the crown prince of Caslera. You know who that is right?” Baekhyun wiggled his brows at him with a sleazy grin.

“Jongin!” The shorter male completed for him with a cackle (looking very proud of himself) when he failed to give him any sort of response. Sehun’s mind was reeling. He knew nothing good was going to come out of their conversation and now Baekhyun had given him yet another thing to be worried about (though it wasn’t in a bad sense) which made him dread meeting Jongin again.

“Shut up! Don’t make fun of me like that. Jongin is allowed to say no.” The flustered prince (Sehun hated his treacherous skin) protested and smacked the shorter male with the pillow in his hand.

“Sehunnie~ that was the case if I or anyone else had been given the title, but you are the real prince. _Your_ parents promised the King and Queen of Caslera to have Prince Shixun married to Prince Jongin.”

“We are still allowed to say no though?” They should be, Kyungsoo hadn’t exactly explained anything to him in detail.

“Not if we go by the traditional importance that is given to the royal promises. Jongin’s parents were really good friends of yours and they absolutely adored you from what I have heard. Believe me, when I say, they are going to do everything to make sure that the promise is fulfilled once they know you’re alive and of age as well. Engagement is going to take place at best.” How can Baekhyun sound so nonchalant about it when he was going crazy at the moment?

_I’m supposed to be worried about being a future King._

_Baekhyun’s father wants to kill me._

_The coronation ceremony is in about two weeks and then there are my studies…_

_I can’t be worried about an arranged marriage with Jongin as well. I did not sign up for this._

Even the thought of marrying Jongin made Sehun blush till his roots. That just seemed too good to be true.

“Can’t they just forget the promise?”

“It is not that simple, Sehun. The public of both the Kingdoms knows that the promise was made. Heck! Every person in this peninsula and even outside it too knows about it. Not fulfilling the promise is going to be a huge blow to the credibility of the monarchy which Gardania at least doesn’t afford at all. People want the union of the two Kingdoms for years now.” Baekhyun explained in quite a solemn manner.

“So there is no way out?” That was unfair to both him and Jongin.

“Do you want a way out? I’m sure Jongin will give you one if you don’t want to marry him. I don’t see why that would be the case though. From what I have seen you are head over heels for him.” Baekhyun mused with furrowed brows, but towards the end, his expression morphed into a teasing smirk.

“What if Jongin wants an out?” Sehun honestly was more worried about that. He liked Jongin, but the other way around wasn’t an established circumstance. The crown prince should be able to choose whoever he wants to marry.

“As his best friend, let me tell you he would never want out,” Baekhyun assured in an extremely vague manner (which only left him more confused) before giving him a secretive wink.

“What does that mean?”

“It means don’t worry your pretty little head too much. Now come, I’m hungry. Let’s go to the mess hall.”

* * *

Sehun didn’t see Jongin for another three days (which made it about a week since he met the other male) at all and wasn’t expecting (or hoping) to do so either that day, but of course, the crown prince wasn’t going to be absent for the rest of the time till the ceremony and he just _had_ to bump into him like a klutz he was.

“Oh! I’m so sorry…” Sehun had trailed off at the end of his apology when he saw Jongin was the one he had ended up causing an inconvenience to. He really didn’t mean it, but the zip of his bag was stuck and he was pretty occupied in making it move to notice where he was going.

“Jongin, h-hey.” There was no reply for the next few seconds before he finally heard the other male laughing breathily.

“With that expression on your face, should I conclude that you are surprised to see me again?” The crown prince implored with a slight tilt to his lips.

“I was certainly not expecting you,” Sehun replied after a moment of hesitation.

“I wasn’t gone for that long.” Jongin pointed out this time looking amused.

“Yeah, but you have been busy and I have hardly seen you around the University.” Sehun exempted before raising his head to properly look at the crown prince.

“I do come to attend classes. My father is in Gardania presently for some business and he wished for me to assist him with the matter which mostly requires me to leave the academy as soon as I’m free from the classes.” Jongin revealed with the shrug of his shoulders (it wasn’t news to him because Baekhyun has been gracious enough all this time to keep him updated even when he had been extra careful to not ask anything about the crown prince especially from his cousin) before tilting his head at him.

“Were you headed for your class?”

“Not really…well, if you count my training with Yifan as a class.” Sehun responded with a meek smile.

“When do you meet him?” He wasn’t sure why Jongin would be interested in that.

“At five in the noon.” Silence (neither awkward nor pleasant) followed his answer which caused Sehun to fidget in his place nervously especially when the other male refused to move his fixed gaze away from him. He had honestly secretly hoped that he won’t come across Jongin just yet. He had no chance to sort his thoughts out and was still as clueless as he was at the beginning where the question of his conduct was in concern. If Baekhyun knew all the peculiarities, the crown prince must too and that thought made him so jittery at times that it annoyed Kyungsoo beyond belief.

“Umm…I ought to go now if I want to be on time.” Sehun finally mustered up the courage to speak again. He wasn’t used to _this._ Being awkward, shy and maybe even embarrassed (all thanks to his clumsiness) was normal, but_ (this)_ being so anxiously nervous to the point that his heart was pounding in his head and his cheeks were threatening to flare up wasn’t something that commonly occurred between them.

Sehun knew he was just being unreasonable because of his feelings for Jongin, but he couldn’t really help himself. He couldn’t help feeling that the prospect of him being the lost prince (and the _implications_ it brought for both of them, especially the nature of relationship that it foreshadowed to exist between them in future) changed a lot of things; not necessarily in a bad sense but it still made him feel mortifyingly shy and nervous around the crown prince.

“It is hardly half-past four. If you leave now it’s going to be awfully early.” Jongin pointed out with a subtle smirk lining his lips. It almost looked like he knew what Sehun was currently feeling and just what was going through his mind.

“I-I didn’t notice the time.” He didn’t have enough presence of mind to do that when he was worried about _how_ he was supposed to act around his subject of affections.

“I am sure you didn’t.” Sehun really wasn’t sure what the other male meant by that.

“Anyway, how is it going? Are you enjoying being the lost prince?” Jongin’s question made him wonder whether the other male was being serious or not. He has to be kidding.

“Did it look like I was having fun in the office the other day?” He inquired with the roll of his eyes.

“You were shocked for sure.” The crown prince replied in a neutral manner before shifting in his place a little. Sehun was ashamed of himself when his eyes traveled down Jongin’s fit torso to his mile-long legs before he forcefully pulled them back up again. The last thing he wanted right now was to be caught checking the other male out, but _damn_ was he fit.

“I almost forgot,” Jongin started again after adjusting his blazer and for some reason appearing a bit smugger than he usually did. Sehun really hoped that he hadn’t caught him staring, but a dreadful hunch rose inside him that it was the exact case.

“My parents asked me to pay their compliments to you. They are really happy that you are finally in your rightful place.”

“You told your parents?” The slight rise in his voice was attributed to the sudden fear and apprehension that took a grip of him because as far as he knew Yifan was going to be super mad at Jongin.

“Yifan was the one who informed my father and my father naturally informed my mother. You don’t have to be worried about them. They have adored you quite a bit from the start and I’m sure they will like you even better now, however, I’m sorry if it causes you any inconvenience.” A rosy blush dominated Sehun’s cheek without his permission as soon as he heard that though he tried his best to appear as indifferent as he could.

“No, no, it’s not that. I was just alarmed since Yifan asked me not to tell anyone about my identity for now. P-Please, pay my compliments back to them?” He hated the way he came off sounding so unsure.

“I will make sure to remember that,” Jongin replied with a chuckle and Sehun dared to trail his gaze up after some time of indecision. However, he ended up hating his decision as soon as he did do it. The crown prince was looking straight back at him and if he wasn’t being paranoid he saw the size of the other male’s smirk increasing when they locked eyes.

“Are you sure that’s the only reason for your unease?” Sehun wasn’t sure whether he was to take a step back when Jongin shamelessly and haughtily stepped into his personal space.

“Y-Yeah.”

“I think you are-” Before the crown prince could complete what he was saying, Chanyeol (who appeared out of nowhere) interrupted him.

“Jongin, here you are. Your father’s driver has been waiting for you outside for about ten minutes now. Hurry up!” The fairy ranted off as soon as he was within earshot and belatedly seemed to realize that Jongin was all over Sehun’s personal space.

Sehun felt his face heating up further (Chanyeol really couldn’t have chosen the worst moment. They were in quite a compromising position and he was sure that the sprite was going to run his mouth in front of Baekhyun and Kyungsoo – the former one was going to tease him to death while the latter one was going to judge him to death) and averted his gaze away from the tanned male when he saw endeared (?) amusement flashing through his usually cold eyes.

“Oh!” Chanyeol's sudden exclamation broke both of them out of their revere.

“Never mind, I think Mr. Song can wait for half an hour more. I can tell him you are sick if you want more-”

“That won’t be necessary, Chanyeol. Thank you.” Jongin cut his fairy off with a slight shake to his head and finally stepped away from Sehun.

“But you guys looked like you were having fun.” Chanyeol teased back with a smirk which only made the flustered carrier wish that the ground would open up and swallow him.

“You think so?” The crown prince played along with his sprite.

“Sehun doesn’t look like he was enjoying it.”

“There was nothing about it that I shouldn’t.” Sehun instantly objected and realized his mistake a second too late.

_What the hell, Oh Sehun?_

_He invaded your personal space like he owned it and you have no complaints?_

_Can I be any more obvious?_

“That is a pleasure to know,” Jongin responded with a self-satisfied smirk before he finally turned around to walk away.

“See you soon, Sehun.” Sehun couldn’t help, but wish for the other male to stay a bit longer. They have met after such a long time for such a _short_ period. Sadly, he can’t do anything about it.

* * *

“Kyungsoo.” Sehun and Kyungsoo turned around in their places (admittedly a bit surprised) as soon as they heard Yifan’s deep voice calling out for the fairy’s attention.

“Yifan, I thought you weren’t going to be at the palace today.” Kyungsoo greeted back with a raised brow and flew forward a little when Sehun took a step closer to the headmaster.

“I wasn’t, but the meeting I was supposed to be attending got postponed,” Yifan replied with the shrug of his shoulders before his gaze shifted towards Sehun.

“I hope you have been practicing summoning small turbulences like I have told you to during our last practice.”

“Don’t worry, I’m doing exactly what you instructed me to do and Kyungsoo is helping as well. I think I can now summon small tornadoes without much effort.” Sehun responded right away and felt a jolt of pride running up his spine when he saw his uncle nodding his head, looking quite pleased.

“It is always great to hear that you are improving.” Yifan expressed and reached out a hand to pat Sehun on the shoulder.

“You have been nothing, but hardworking and it feels so accomplishing to have you improving so fast and diligently.”

“I can’t thank you enough for taking me under your wing,” Sehun answered in a grateful manner.

“It was my responsibility as your uncle and then our Kyungsoo is so fond of you…I can’t just tell him no.” Yifan countered with a good-natured smile and averted his gaze towards the fairy. Something seemed to have passed between them during that single silent moment of eye-contact because the very next second the headmaster was clearing his throat and patting Sehun on his back again.

“Since you are here, I’m assuming Baekhyun was the one to invite. You should go and find him. Go upstairs and take the first left and then the third right.” Yifan urged and then completely turned to face Kyungsoo.

“Meanwhile, I’ll be borrowing Kyungsoo from you. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Find me with Baekhyun, Kyungsoo.” Sehun easily consented though he couldn’t really ignore the feeling that rose inside him. Yifan and Kyungsoo were acting weird. He can’t help but feel that they were up to something or at least, they were trying to hide something. He wouldn’t have really let it bother him if he also didn’t have the hunch that the whole thing has something to do with _him._

…………

Another problem with letting Kyungsoo go with Yifan was the fact that Sehun has always been directionally challenged. He can’t find the right way to save his life. If his fairy would have been with him, he wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost because Kyungsoo knew the palace like the back of his hand; at least that is what he has claimed when he has revealed to Sehun that Jongin and Baekhyun lived at the castle of Gardenia, unlike the other students. That has been shocking news, but then again it wasn’t that surprising.

Apparently, Baekhyun had gotten the wind of it at the lunch from Junmyeon and of course, had readily extended an invitation for a gathering over the weekend because-

_“Sehunnie, it’s your home anyway.”_

It was originally scheduled on Saturday, but Sehun has begrudgingly excused himself by revealing that he was going to visit his mother that day. The problem, however, had been easy enough to be solved when Jongdae suggested to just move the gathering to Sunday so that everybody would be free to join them. He had also stealthily smiled at Sehun and demanded that he ought to take them with him while he was visiting his mother.

Sehun had been a bit uncomfortable over the prospect. He wasn’t rich like them and he told them so, but his concerns were shot down almost immediately. Within the next five minutes, it was decided that Baekhyun, Junmyeon, Luhan, Yixing, and Jongdae would be joining him at his mother’s place and Sehun had absolutely no say in it. Kyungsoo said he would join as well which automatically prompted Chanyeol to propose his attendance, but the poor blonde fairy had wilted like a flower when Jongin told him that he had a business that day and Chanyeol was to come with him. Minseok had also excused himself with an apologetic smile while revealing that his elder sister and her husband were in Gardenia and he was bound to visit them.

His mother has been ecstatic to find out that her son had so many handsome and kind friends. She even asked that ‘which one is your boyfriend’ question which he had been expecting and was quick to shoot down. Sadly, though Baekhyun had heard it and being the sly little shit he was, claimed that the _‘boyfriend’_ was busy and didn’t come over; making everyone, other than the person who was being embarrassed, laugh. Sehun had smacked him on the back of his head because now was not the time for Baekhyun to tease him about his supposedly promised marriage with Jongin.

Coming back to the problem at hand. The directions that Yifan gave him were simple enough, but he still felt a bit lost in such a massive place. Thankfully, one of the guards (who had most probably overhead his earlier conversation with the headmaster) has been nice enough to lead him the right way when he was about to take the wrong turn. Getting a bit red in embarrassment, Sehun had bowed at the guard to thank him for his kindness and hurriedly walked down the hall before finally taking the third right. He bumped straight into Baekhyun as soon as he had turned the corner.

“Sehunnie! I was just coming to look for you.” Baekhyun called out excitedly once he was steady on his feet (Sehun was thankful that he didn’t cause the other male to fall on his butt) and wrapped an arm around his shoulders – at least he attempted to but was too short to actually properly do it.

“Why? Am I the last one here?” Sehun inquired with a confused frown. Yesterday, the guys have left pretty late in the night and he (with Kyungsoo – Mrs. Oh has been absolutely in love with him and his fairy for once has been uncharacteristically mild) had decided to stay over at his mother’s so there was no way for him to know whether the others were at the castle already or not since he came straight from his house. As far as he knew, he was pretty early; it was still at least half-an-hour earlier than the time they have decided to gather at.

“Oh, no! I just saw you entering the palace through the balcony and was waiting for you to come up. It was taking so long and you know I’m impatient that’s why I was coming to get you myself.” Baekhyun yapped away like a puppy and pulled him down the hallway – most probably to his room.

“Where is Kyungsoo? I saw him with you.”

“Oh…we ran into Yifan on the way up. He had some business with Kyungsoo.” Sehun replied with a fond shake of his head. Baekhyun sometimes acted like a five-year-old kid and it was always endearing to watch. He can’t believe Mr. Byun is such a harsh father to him.

“Is anyone here yet?”

“Nope.” His cousin replied while popping the p and stopped in front of the high, wooden doors with intricate carvings on the right side. There were only two doors in the whole hallway and they were located right in front of each other.

“You should go and wait inside. I will see what Kyungsoo and Yifan are up to.” There was nothing wrong with what Baekhyun said, but there was something about the glint in the shorter male’s eyes that made Sehun feel a bit cautious.

“Whose room is it?” The size of the subtle grin that was lining Baekhyun’s lips increased in size right away.

“Who else? It’s your husband’s.”

“Baekhyun!”

“Aww~ don’t get all shy now.” The shorter male teased not showing any signs of mercy towards Sehun’s flushed face.

“He is _not_ my husband. Stop it.”

“But he will be soon, don’t worry. I can’t wait for you and Jonginph-” Sehun hastily covered Baekhyun’s mouth (he didn’t think his cousin was adorable anymore and vehemently took it back mentally) with his hand and shot him a withering glare.

“Shut up! We are right outside his room for _heaven’s _sake.” He hissed, sounding a trifle embarrassed, and pulled his hand back in disgust when the shorter male licked at it with a mischievous smirk.

“Fine, fine. You’re no fun.” Baekhyun finally relented with a sigh and to his horror casually reached out to open the door to Jongin’s room without any prior warning or knocking.

“You should knock…first!” Sehun trailed off and squeaked weakly to finish off his sentence (very belatedly) when his brain at last caught up with what actually his sight was beholding. Baekhyun, that devil, has thrown open the door before he could even finish his warning and poor Sehun ended up only gaping like a fool when he caught the sight of the broad, tanned and very naked back. The strong muscles rippled under the golden skin when Jongin moved his arms (he was currently putting on a tank-top from what he can see) and conveniently took Sehun to the verge of a cardiac arrest.

_Fuck! He is so hot._

“Ever heard of knocking Baekhyun?” Jongin drawled from his place before pulling down his tank over his torso.

“When have I ever knocked?” Baekhyun replied back with the shrug of his shoulders (which the crown prince couldn’t even see) and turned to face Sehun with a cunning smirk. He so did it on purpose.

_I’m going to wring his pretty neck._

The flustered male promised to himself with a reeling mind. As much as he hated Baekhyun at the moment, he hated himself more for reacting in such an obvious manner. He was just proving his friend right by being so affected.

“Never, but when have I ever _not _called you out on it,” Jongin replied and turned around to face them while trying to tame his mused hairs. He paused in his actions when his eyes met Sehun’s, appearing somewhat surprised, and raised an inquiring brow (most probably silently questioning why he looked so red which only caused his pale skin to grow hotter) a moment later before shaking his head at Baekhyun and continuing on with his task.

“And when has that ever worked?” Baekhyun sang back, sounding way too satisfied for it to be acceptable by Sehun’s affronted consciousness.

“Anyway,” The shorter male continued undeterred when Jongin just shook his head at him once again.

“Take care of Sehun for me, please. I’m going to see what’s taking everyone so long.”

“I don’t think you need to do that-” Sehun started to protest at once (because there was no way he was going to stay with Jongin in his room alone when he was looking like that and even though he was fully clothed now, he still looked very much tempting with those bulging biceps on the display. There was this matter of their marriage as well which he couldn’t even begin to think about), but Baekhyun cut him short.

“Nonsense! Of course, I need to since I’m the host.”

“You never did that before.” Jongin pointed out, though he looked regaled, unlike Sehun who was downright panicking at the moment.

“There’s a first for everything,” Baekhyun replied with the shrug of his shoulders and swiftly made his way towards the door after giving Sehun a forceful push towards Jongin. Sehun really would have protested (and would have thrown a few curses at the shorter male while doing so too) only if he hadn’t stumbled clumsily right into Jongin who was nice enough to steady him.

“I’m sorry about him. Sometimes, he can be too much.” The crown prince apologized as soon as his best friend was out of the room and gave Sehun a once over, as if to make sure he was alright, before letting his hold go slack on his arms.

“Tell me about it.” Sehun agreed with a nervous chuckle and took a step away from the other male (which automatically impelled Jongin to completely take off his hands) while trying to keep the heat from climbing up his cheeks.

“You should take a seat. Excuse me for the mess. I wasn’t expecting any company today or else I would have tidied it up a bit.” It wasn’t even that messy. Contrary to that, it was actually well-maintained and neat with the exception of a rumpled coat, dress shirt, and pants on the armchair placed in the corner. It seemed like the tanned male has just returned back from some business.

“This isn’t messy at all. You should try rooming with Junmyeon. He can’t clean up after himself at all.” Sehun contradicted and hesitantly moved away from the bed (no way he was sitting there; especially not when he remembered all the explicitly drawn dirty images that his cousin has planted in his mind regarding the very bed and of course, Sehun and Jongin, in guise of teasing) to sit on one of the armchairs.

“I have heard stories from Yixing,” Jongin replied with a chuckle of his own and sat on the edge of the bed before leaning back on his arms. Sehun tried his best not to stare.

“Junmyeon sounds like someone I can’t ever room with.”

“Don’t say that too soon. I am super neat, but I still like rooming with him.” Sehun defended his friend with a playful laugh, feeling slightly less strung up now that they were talking about something that he considered as a _safe_ topic.

“Won’t I make a better roommate if you like neat?” The crown prince questioned with a crooked smirk and bent his arms in a way that allowed him to lay on the bed, supported only by his elbows.

_Fuck._

_His man spread is going to be the death of me._

_Who even allowed him?_

“I have heard that crown princes never really have to share their rooms with anyone.” He sounded a lot more confident than he felt which, was in itself a miracle especially when he was trying his utmost to not let his eyes trail past the other male’s torso. He was gay for heaven’s sake and this guy over here came straight out of his wet dreams; not to mention again that there was a possibility of them being engaged soon as Baekhyun has put it. Lord have some mercy on him.

“Have you?” Jongin mused with a thoughtful look on his face.

“I don’t necessarily agree with it.” He continued and hiked up a bit in his place so he was looking straight at Sehun.

“We do have to share our rooms when we get married, you know?” _Whatever_ happened to the safe topic? The effect of the word _‘marriage’ _was instantaneous on Sehun even if he knew that the crown prince didn’t really mean to suggest anything with it. They were just having a casual banter; maybe a bit playful, but that was all. Even when he knew that he just couldn’t stop himself from panicking internally in case Jongin did mention anything concerning their _future_. The fact that he wasn’t faring well previously was another thing to be reckoned.

_Why would he bring this up now out of all time?_

“Oh…” He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to give any other response; not that it bothered the other male because he once again let himself scooch back on the bed.

“See, I’m not as privileged as you think.” Despite his reeling mind, Sehun couldn’t stop himself from snorting at that.

“_You_ shouldn’t be talking about privilege. You have a whole room to yourself in the _castle_ when we all are forced to room with three others in academy dormitories.” He wasn’t complaining about that, but it was still a tangible point.

“That is because they think I’m going to be their future King,” Jongin replied nonchalantly with a wave of his hand.

“They think…” His heart cracked and wilted just a little.

“Are you not?” Sehun couldn’t help the slight apprehension and disappointment that slipped into his inquiry. Was this his way of breaking off their parent’s promise in a nice way?

“I don’t know.” He wasn’t sure of what he was to make out of Jongin’s response (whether it confirmed his fears or not) because a second later the crown prince turned to face him again, a suggestive sort of smirk lining his lips. Sehun’s heart conveniently skipped a beat or two.

“Won’t that depend on you, Sehun?” The person in question felt himself going rigid in his place before a hot flush took over all his being. He didn’t really have the will and enough lucidity to conceal his blushing complexion from Jongin because he knew it was a lost cause.

“W-What do you mean?”

“I think you know _exactly _what I mean.” The other male called him out before finally sitting up straight in his place; eyes resolutely fixed on his face.

“But since you want to hear me say it,” Jongin continued confidently.

“Our parents made a promise of our union through marriage. Now that you have been found, _my_ parents specifically want that promise fulfilled because they strongly believe that yours would have done the same if something bad had happened to them.” The crown prince must have seen the conflicted look on his face because he proceeded to assure him.

“That promise was made years ago though and there are no legal documents. I’m pretty sure Baekhyun had given you all the necessary details but as I said, it all depends on you, no matter what others say. No one can force you. _I_ won’t let them. I will only become the King of Gardania if you are willing to…” He hesitated a bit there, but then seemed to have trumped over his reluctance a moment later.

“If you are willing to marry me.”

“Yifan would want the same from-”

“The marriage won’t happen unless you want it.” Jongin cut him off decisively.

“What about you? Your _parents_ want it, but do you?” Sehun wasn’t even worried about himself because he knew that he has no objections to the particularities of the promise. Maybe, marriage was too extreme a step so soon, but if he had to _absolutely_ get engaged right away, he won’t have too many concerns. It wasn’t like they just met yesterday. They have known each other for almost six months now without the influence of the prospect of their arranged marriage. Half-a-year was enough time to fall in love with someone or at the very least form an attraction which might later on bloom into something more. They weren’t forced upon each other, but still just because he was lucky enough to have feelings for Jongin didn’t mean the same goes for him. For all, he knew the other male may like someone else though Sehun had a hope that Jongin liked him back…at least that’s what he had dared to hope after observing his (flirty?) conduct around himself. The crown prince wasn’t expressive, but Sehun has learned where to look.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Jongin replied after a small instant of contemplation.

“That is not what I asked,” Sehun argued and plowed on (appearing a trifled embarrassed) when the other male merely ticked a brow at him.

“I would never want to impose myself on you.” It really felt like they were playing a game of tug of war. Both of them were testing and probing, dancing along the line; waiting to see who would cave in first.

“You won’t be imposing yourself on me if I consent.” The crown prince pointed out, a gleam of challenge in his eyes.

“Consent doesn’t really count if it’s forced.” Sehun immediately shot back in defiance.

“And who said that it is forced?” By that point, it was obvious that Jongin was purposely riling him up. There was no other way to explain the subtle playful tilt to the corners of his lips.

“I don’t think I’m following you-” Sehun was cut short when the door of the room burst open revealing an annoyed Kyungsoo.

“Jongin, I swear I’m going to kill Baekhyun’s annoying ass one of these days.” The sprite sneered with a scowl, completely oblivious to the tension in the room.

“What did he do now?” Jongin inquired off-handedly with a chuckle as if they weren’t just talking about their possible marriage.

“I was coming up here like ten minutes ago when he found me and relayed that Chanyeol asked me to head to the Garden. Chanyeol wasn’t there when I went. He is not even in the castle!” An airy laugh left the crown prince’s lips as he diverted his amused gaze away from Kyungsoo towards Sehun again.

“I’m sure he had his reasons.” Sehun felt the heat rising to his cheeks again when his fairy turned around to gaze at them skeptically.

“Do I even want to know?”

“No,” Sehun replied firmly before Jongin could open his mouth again.

* * *

“I think it is time for us to initiate the coronation.” Baekhyun, who had been trying his best to divert his father for the past half-an-hour, looked up in a panic as soon as he heard that. He wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to do to delay the ceremony. He has already used his all tricks. Sehun was supposed to be in the crowd along with the other students an hour ago, but he was still missing. Kyungsoo had come to him looking tremendously hysterical to demand whether he has seen his familiar but was disappointed when Baekhyun had told him that it was two hours ago last time he had seen his cousin.

His father has been glued to his side ever since and there was no way for him to know what has exactly happened. Kyungsoo has left the hall with Jongin after they were sure that no soul has seen Sehun for quite some time which was extremely worrying. Yifan looked like he was just about ready to bash his father’s head. Baekhyun himself was anxious. He was freaking out on the inside. God knows what has happened to his cousin.

“I think Baekhyun should address the crowd first before we began.” Yifan proposed coldly to the audience.

“There is no need for that.” Mr. Byun countered right away with a scowl.

“He can address the crowd after it.”

“Father, I think headmaster Wu is right. I should address the crowd first.” Baekhyun desperately supported Yifan.

“I think we should start the ceremony.” One of the courtiers who happened to listen in onto their conversation suggested.

“Everyone including the officials and courtiers are getting impatient. Our audience also has the royal families of different Kingdoms. It is disrespectful to make them wait so much.”

“But what if someone has an objection?” Baekhyun _cannot_ be bestowed with the crown because once it’s done there is nothing anyone could do to undo it. It wouldn’t matter whether Sehun is Prince Shixun or not. The magical crown of Gardania only has one bearer per generation. The magical bond between the wearer and the crown is very strong (they didn’t know whether that bond will form now because he wasn’t exactly the wielder of Golden dust, but he still didn’t want to take a risk) and it cannot be broken. The crown actually glows when it is placed on the head of the _true_ heir and that was their only chance to prove that Sehun was the lost prince unless they plan on taking everyone to the forest and have his cousin summon the golden breath of life. His father won’t ever let that happen.

“Objection? Nonsense! Who would have an objection?” Mr. Byun demanded in irritation, his voice louder than it should have been. Baekhyun was about to open his mouth to respond again, but someone beat him to it.

“_I_ have an objection.” Jongin, who was now out of nowhere standing in the middle of the path that led up to the dais they were standing on, proclaimed casually before stepping aside to reveal Sehun who looked haggard and pale. His father beside him stiffened in his place right away whereas he let out a deep breath of relief.

“Prince Kai.” One of the courtiers addressed politely, looking extremely confused.

“Who is with you?” Sehun stepped forward at that while directing a scathing glare towards Mr. Byun. He would fucking kill the man once he gets his hands on him. He had been on his way to the ceremony hall with the other students when he was suddenly and forcefully pulled to the side. A curtain of black was draped over his eyes before he was hit hard on the back of his head. Sehun hadn’t even gotten a chance to summon his power before he was knocked unconscious.

He didn’t know what place he was kept at, but it smelled awful (he couldn’t even breath properly, it was almost as if his oxygen was cut off) and was completely dark. Sehun had dreaded his death because it was no rocket science to deduce that Mr. Byun somehow found out about him and now was hell-bent on killing him. Fear has gripped his heart tight. He had even shed some tears after all his attempts at escaping and finding a way out failed him; especially when he remembered that Baekhyun was out there relying on him. The thought that he wouldn’t ever get to know what Jongin actually meant that day in his room made him especially gloomy. The thought of not ever seeing him again pained him. Actually the thought of not seeing his friends, fairy, uncle and his mother (who will take care of her?) almost made him wretch. He wanted an out at all costs.

Thankfully, he didn’t end up dying because Kyungsoo and Jongin had found him (he had no idea how and neither did he care because he just wanted to get out) on time. Kyungsoo has fussed over him with tears in his eyes (he was so shocked to see that) before Jongin has grimly reminded them about the limited time they had. 

“I have a claim to make.” Sehun’s resentment towards Baekhyun’s father increased by every single second that passed.

“We don’t have the time for any claims.” Mr. Byun insolently claimed and turned towards the royal judge who was responsible for crowning the heir. Kyungsoo growled under his breath and would have most probably jinxed the old man if Jongin hadn’t stopped him.

“I am the true heir to the throne. I claim to be the lost prince Shixun.” The whole room released collective gasps as soon as he claimed that.

“You think anyone can come up here, claiming to be the prince and we will trust him?” Mr. Byun sneered before turning back to the judge.

“Let us began.”

“That is a very big claim, Mr. Byun.” The royal judge warned.

“We all know the prince is dead!” Mr. Byun argued right away, looking angrier with each passing second.

“We are sure that he is not. Some of the workers have found fresh traces of golden dust in a small patch of the forest.” Yifan jumped in with a smirk.

“I was just informed this morning, but an official report has already reached the desks of the royal court.”

“You will _not_ insult my son like that because of a measly scholarship student.” Mr. Byun growled before charging towards the crown. Kyungsoo noticing that immediately flew in his direction, but it was actually Jongdae (he was one of the few crown princes who were allowed to be seated in the front row of seats placed on the dais) who ended up making a difference because he stuck his leg out causing the old man to trip. Even though Mr. Byun didn’t get to take the crown in his possession, he still ended up toppling it over. The gold crown, studded with valuable jewels in an intricate design, skidded across the slippery floor and ended up stopping right against Baekhyun’s shoes who immediately bent down to pick it up.

“That is it. Wear it, Baekhyun. Do it for your father.” Mr. Byun urged, looking almost feverish by that point. Baekhyun averted his gaze away from the crown towards his father in disgust and then shifted it towards Sehun who was now standing right beside him along with Jongin. He wordlessly passed them a smile and stepped forward to carefully place the crown on his cousin’s head. The magical crown glowed as soon as it had detected its true owner; blinding all of them for a brief second.

Everyone watched on in awe as the glow of the crown slowly faded and was immediately proceeded by another softer gleam of the golden dust that was hovering about Sehun’s figure literally making him glimmer and appear like something that was out of the world. However, the trance was soon broken by Mr. Byun who hastily made his way towards Baekhyun; looking just about ready to punch him. Fortunately, Jongin caught his arm before he could inflict any kind of damage. Baekhyun’s father wasn’t deterred though.

“You fool! What have you done?” Mr. Byun roared and tried to jerk Jongin off in order to reach his son.

“Mr. Byun please mind your conduct.” The royal judge intervened, but it fell on deaf ears.

“The throne belonged to my cousin, father. I had no right to take it.” Baekhyun retaliated with a frown.

“_Your cousin?”_ His father scoffed incredulously.

“You useless child. I should have killed you with your mother.” He continued, eyes practically red from anger.

“After all the pains I have taken to make sure that you will get the crown so I’ll have all this power…you did this! I killed my brother and the Queen to have the crown and you fucking did this!” An astonished mummer immediately went through the crowd, but Mr. Byun paid it no mind because he finally succeeded in getting free from Jongin’s hold though instead of reaching for Baekhyun he reached straight for Sehun’s neck who had enough presence of mind to instantly step away.

“Security!” Yifan growled as soon as Jongin had pulled the crazy man away from his nephew.

“I will kill you.” Mr. Byun threatened while looking straight at Sehun.

“Someone fucking take him away already.” Kyungsoo snarled while hovering in front of his familiar in case the stupid man decided to do something again. Two guards finally reached them to take Mr. Byun under arrest and dragged him off the dais before throwing him down on the knees and cuffing his hands. Sehun watched the scene in silence before turning to look at Baekhyun (scared that he would be sad), but all he saw on his face was satisfaction.

“Finally, this day will go to the top of my ‘most favorite moments of life’ list,” Kyungsoo remarked when Mr. Byun was finally taken out of the ceremony hall to be thrown into the prison.

“You have that list?” Sehun inquired skeptically.

“Yup! You want to know?” His fairy agreed with an easy grin which made Sehun shake his head with a smile.

“Maybe later, Kyungsoo.”

……………

  
The rest of the evening was very hectic and Sehun _would have_ thrown a tantrum about how tired he was (both of standing and fake smiling) if he wasn’t conscious of the crowd around him. As soon as the coronation ceremony has concluded (Sehun was crowned all over again, this time properly by the royal judge) courtiers of different ranks have swarmed him with their wives and occasionally with their children, almost as if they were in some kind of a competition to see who would give him the longest and the most boring congratulations speech. Courtiers were followed by government higher-ups and they would have been most probably followed by the other officials of their legal body if it wasn’t for Yifan who politely took him by the arm before guiding him away. 

It wasn’t for his salvation though. Yifan had his own important guests (which were mostly royals from the other Kingdoms with the exception of few. He actually met Jongdae’s, Minseok’s and Luhan’s parents though it was a bit disappointing that he didn’t get to meet his _possible in-laws _– Jongdae was a pesky menace for putting that thought into his mind earlier when Sehun was meeting his parents) that he wanted Sehun to meet though they were not as boring and as imposing as the ones he had been dealing with previously. Plus, meeting them with his uncle was actually productive (if Yifan wanted him to meet these people it certainly meant that he trusted them and they would probably help him in future) and even fun because Sehun got some clear insight into what his future life is supposed to be.

“Where is Kyungsoo?” The headmaster has inquired between one of the bare minimum moments of peace that they were given.

“Don’t know.” Sehun had replied with the shrug of the shoulders before they were engaged by yet another King who wanted to introduce the new crown prince of Gardania to his son. Sehun really wished Kyungsoo was there, but his sprite has disappeared in the very beginning claiming that he was too _old_ to socialize with idiots.

Surprisingly, the topics that his older and more experienced companions usually touched on weren’t foreign at all. Sehun did not feel awkward and lost. Yifan had already expansively talked about them to him during their history lectures alone (he has always wondered why the headmaster was so interested in teaching him things that were not in the curriculum, but now they made sense and he was thankful to the elder male) and Sehun understood them extremely well…at least well enough to form his own opinion on things without doubting his knowledge.

Towards the end of the hour, Sehun somehow was completely in his element (even though he was dead tired) and was gradually gaining confidence as well. After staying silent or neutral for the better half of the initial event he had finally decided to speak his mind when one of the officials (Yifan’s friend) had brought up the matter of the maintenance of the budget which his uncle has been responsible for all these years. They were discussing the ratio in which the different turfs were to be divided when Sehun has butted in with his own suggestion.

Seeing that he was received well and even encouraged he had proceeded to give his own opinion on the different topics and by the time he walked away with Yifan he was already telling his uncle what he actually thought about the present policies and how they should improve it though it was a light-hearted affair, nothing serious. The fact that the headmaster encouraged him a lot (he even seemed pleased) took away the last bit of hesitation that was corrupting Sehun. He also shared with Yifan who he thought was trustable among the government officials and courtiers. Likewise, he shared the list of the ones who just appeared to him down right shrew and was pleased to know that the elder male approved of his opinion. 

_“You have a sharp eye and fresh, innovative ideas, Sehun. The designs you propose are far-sighted. You will do Gardania justice.” _

Sehun shouldn’t have felt as pleased as he did, but oh well.

Moving on, he had finally met Jongin’s parents as well (he was so thankful that the other male himself wasn’t with them or Sehun would have felt extremely awkward and shy; keeping in mind that they still hadn’t gotten a chance to clear up things since their last talk) and the first thing that he took notice of was the fact that Jongin got his beautiful, dimpled smile from his mother. The King and Queen of Caslera have greeted him warmly (Jongin’s mother has hugged him which honestly surprised him a bit. He hadn’t expected her to do that at all, especially when they were meeting for the first time ever) when they met and have greatly encouraged him. Yifan had also joined in on the conversation which for some reason led them to talk about Sehun’s real parents and his childhood for some time. To conclude their small meeting (the Queen had jokingly claimed that they would have hogged him all to themselves for the rest of the evening if that wasn’t considered rude) the elderly couple repeated their well wishes before giving him a pat on his back each and walking off.

  
“That will be all.” Sehun lifted his head up to look at his uncle when he heard that before belatedly nodding his head. He was just so tired by that point (a bit cranky too because he hadn’t met his friends throughout the event) and wanted to sleep more than anything else at the moment. Yifan had earlier walked him down one of the empty hallways (no one really noticed because most of the guests have left already, the ceremony was just about to die down) to discuss his new accommodations, classes, schedules and specifically the major he would be taking on. Sehun sincerely thought that this talk could have waited, but his uncle has asserted that he ought to move to the castle right away; if not tonight then tomorrow at the very maximum.

“Can I go to my room now and sleep please?” Sehun whined with a yawn which earned him a chuckle.

“You can do whatever you want to though keep in mind you have to get up early tomorrow to move.”

“Yeah, Yeah, I’ll do that.” Yifan shook his head at his petulancy but thankfully said nothing.

“Move along then. I’m going to the office for a while so you have to go back alone.”

“How sad,” Sehun muttered sarcastically under breath which finally incited his uncle to whack him on the back of his head.

“Get going before I kill you.”

“We both know you would never do that.” With that being said, he turned around in his place with a careless wave over his shoulder and walked down the hallway. Yifan seemed to have done the same because Sehun heard no reply behind him.

It was all so weird and unexpected now that he was finally alone and have the time to think without worrying about the whole fiasco that he has been thrown into unprepared. He was just a mere common waiter a whole six months ago from now. He lived with his adoptive mother in a rundown apartment, scrupled hard to fulfill their basics need and nothing, absolutely _nothing _came easy in his life. How come he suddenly got so lucky? Winning the scholarship. Befriending one of the sincerest people he has ever had the chance to come across and then finding his real family. Not to forget he was the lost prince. He was to be the King of Gardania when six months ago he was nothing; another commoner who no one ever cared about. It was a wonder how he went straight from being a pauper to a prince. It seemed impossible-

A loud yelp left Sehun’s lips as someone suddenly latched onto his wrist (abruptly breaking the chain of thoughts going through his mind) and forcefully pulled him to the side – supposedly out on one of the many balconies attached to the hallway he was walking down – before pushing him back against one of the sturdy, white pillars and covering his mouth. His first thought was to panic because he was being _kidnapped_, but then that panic turned into confusion when he saw Jongin hovering over him with a sneaky smile.

“What?” He demanded weakly when the hand was removed from his mouth though he was sure that the lilt of incredulousness in his voice wasn’t missed by the other male.

“Someone has been busy.” The tanned male pointed out casually as if he hadn’t just given Sehun an almost heart attack.

“Right…” He murmured, more to himself than the other, before eyeing Jongin dubiously.

“You weren’t that available either.”

“Being a crown prince is difficult,” Jongin replied with the shrug of his shoulders. Sehun stared at him silently, wondering over the absurdity of the situation. He really wanted to tell the other male that there was no need for him to give him such a scare if that was all he wanted to talk about, but before he could the sound of the chatter prompted him to face the inside of the hallway again; concerned that someone would see them. There were two girls walking past the entrance of the balcony, but thankfully he and Jongin were hidden behind the translucent white curtains.

“Don’t you think so too?” The other male brought his focus back to their previous conversation and it was only then did Sehun realize just how close they were standing; he wished that he hadn’t because the very next moment he was flushing red from head to toe and sincerely hoped that it was dark enough for the other male to not notice. Not that it was any use because with how hard his heart was beating, Jongin ought to have heard it already, especially when he was this close to him.

“I-It hasn’t been more than five hours since I became one. I don’t think I have the right to say that so soon.” Somehow amidst all his chaotic thoughts, he still managed to make a comprehensible and appropriate response.

“Fair enough.” Jongin agreed with a smile before finally taking a step away for the sake of Sehun’s sanity; at least Sehun thought that it was for the sake of his sanity because his mind was factually whirling at that moment and the way Jongin smelled so nice wasn’t doing him any favors either.

“Anyway,” The other prince continued, seeming completely oblivious of the fact that Sehun’s brain was quite literally a mess at that moment.

“My parents told me that they met you.”

“You weren’t there.”

“I wasn’t. Did you want me to be?” Sehun made a face at the smug smirk thrown his way.

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t want me to be there then.” Jongin guessed with an amused smile which only flustered Sehun further.

“I didn’t mean it like that either.”

“How did you mean it then?” The tanned male challenged, obviously enjoying how flustered Sehun actually was.

“You know what, if you have nothing better to say I’m going.” Sehun grouched with a scowl and attempted to walk past Jongin, but he was stopped by a hand on his wrist again; not that he was serious about leaving in the first place.

“I didn’t get to congratulate you back in the ceremony.” Sehun tilted his head up to catch Jongin’s gaze as soon as he heard that and bit down on his lower lip when the other male gave him a charming smile. He watched on silently with slightly bulging eyes and hitched breath when Jongin slowly brought his hand up to press a gentle kiss against his fingers; all the while maintaining their eye contact as if he knew exactly what he was doing to Sehun.

“Congratulations on your coronation, my prince.” The first thought that went through Sehun’s mind at that moment was the mortifying reality that there was no way Jongin couldn’t see his face burning. The second was the gratitude that they were alone and Jongin hadn’t done that in front of so many people. The third and last one was the flaring question which he decided to voice out.

“Is that how you congratulate every crown prince? All private and intimate.” An amused smile crossed Jongin’s features before he slowly let his hand down and took a step closer to him. Sehun tried his best to act indifferent when the other male bent down slightly to invade his personal space even more than he was doing so previously.

“Only the cute ones I like,” Jongin whispered, his lips literally a breath away from Sehun’s.

“You l-like me?”

“I did happen to have unconsciously developed feelings for you. It was out of my control.”

“That is why you told me that you have no problem with the marriage.” It was more of a statement than a question though it seemed to have diverted the other prince all the same.

“With the way you act around me, Sehun.” Jongin began and brought his hand up to brush his fingers against Sehun’s cheek.

“I don’t think you have a problem with that either.”

“I don’t,” Sehun replied before swallowing nervously.

“I-I never really did.”

“Yeah?” Jongin inquired with an easy smile.

“Why? Because I’m handsome? Rich or-” He was obviously teasing, but Sehun still felt defensive over it.

“Because I have feelings for you too. Stop acting like a narcissist jerk.”

“Ah- that’s why.” The other male confirmed with a cheeky grin, completely ignoring the insult, and Sehun would have protested against it again if Jongin hadn’t yanked him closer by the hand that he was still holding. Both of them stared at each other in mesmerized silence for a long minute or so before Jongin threw him a fond smile and brought his free hand up to cup the side of Sehun’s face.

“I hope you won’t panic.” He whispered in suggestive, playful tone right before pressing his soft, plush lips gently against Sehun’s. A gasp breathy gasp of surprise left the carrier’s lips unwarranted as soon as his brain overcame the shock of being kissed out of nowhere though Jongin didn’t seem to have minded it at all because Sehun could practically feel him smiling against his lips.

The other prince lingered there for a second longer (a second too short in his opinion) before pulling away from the kiss and leaning away.

“Wasn’t my warning enough?” Jongin teased with a radiant smile on his face.

“Y-You didn’t even give me a c-chance to…” Sehun sputtered out in embarrassment though he decided against completing his sentence in case the other male would get another thing to tease him about.

“Chance to?” Jongin urged though Sehun just sent a scowl his way.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” The tanned male repeated with a slight tilt to his head.

“Was that it? I think it was more than an objective _nothing_-”

“Shut up.” Sehun interrupted him.

“Now that is just plain rude,” Jongin claimed breezily though his eyes shined with mischief.

“You should-” Sehun didn’t know where the courage came from, but he fisted his hands in Jongin’s shirt and pulled him down for another kiss so that he could silence him. To his credit, the other prince did lose his composure for a moment, but sadly he recovered it way too soon and confidently kissed him back. A hand came up to tilt his head to deepen the kiss and they would have most probably continued to kiss until their lungs were low on oxygen if it wasn’t from the sudden brightness that blinded both of them.

Jongin was the first one to pull away with a curse. Sehun too took a step back, but then realized that the light was coming from _him_ which meant that he couldn’t really evade it. Thankfully, the bright light faded away soon into a dull glow though what it left behind made Sehun go breathless.

_Golden Flake._

A golden, glittering flake was tattooed on his wrist.

“T-That is the golden flake.” Jongin’s bewildered voice impelled him to look away from the pretty flake.

“It looks like it.”

“You caught the golden flake.” It was more of a statement then a question and Sehun wasn’t about to deny it not when the other male already looked so shocked.

“That- this only happens when the golden flake has completed what it’s supposed to do.”

_My happily ever after…_

“I think I did catch it.” Sehun finally admitted after casting another fascinated gaze towards his newly attained tattoo.

“That is why you asked me about it back in the jungle.” With how shocked he had looked just a minute ago, Jongin had composed himself back pretty well.

“I wasn’t sure whether it was real back then or not,” Sehun revealed before looking at the glittering tattoo again.

“I mean, no one had seen it for almost two decades why would I suddenly? I thought someone was pranking me and your answer only confirmed it.”

“Guess we were wrong, huh?” Jongin concluded with a snort before a cunning smirk took over his lips again. Sehun was about to open his mouth and tell the other prince to keep _his’_ shut, but the tanned male beat him to it. Firm hands wrapped around his waist before he was pulled straight into Jongin’s sturdy body.

“Well…I’m glad to know that I complete your happily ever after.”

“Oh, God!” Sehun cringed and burst out into a fit of laughter. No matter how true it was, it was still way too cheesy, especially coming from someone like Jongin.

“Should I feel offended?” Jongin looked more entertained than ruffled.

“I didn’t intend for it to be offending.” 

“You’re lucky I like you.”

“Or else?” Sehun challenged with a mischievous smile.

“Or else…” The hands on his waist tightened.

“I will show you just why people call me the cold prince of Caslera.”

“Should I be scared?”

“I don’t want you to be,” Jongin responded with a chuckle and leaned down to catch his lips in a kiss again. If Sehun forgot whatever he was going to say as a response, he didn’t mind it at all.

* * *

I made a twitter acc and curious cat since some of you asked for it.

Twitter: [@exosangel7](https://twitter.com/exosangel7)

Curious Cat: [exosangel7](https://curiouscat.me/exosangel7)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!  
I know this was long and I’m really thankful if you read it till the end. Thanks a lot. I hope you guys will like it. This turned out to be more of Sehun-centric then SeKai-centric, but I tried my best.  
To the prompter, I really wish that this is up to your expectations.  
Thanks for supporting me.


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